THE 

RESURRECTION  BODY 

to  the  Scriptures'  ’ 


BT  871  . W5 

White,  Wilbert  W.  1863-1944. 
The  resurrection  body 
"according  to  the 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
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https://archive.org/details/resurrectionbodyOOwhit 


THE  RESURRECTION  BODY 

WILBERT  W.  WHITE 


By  WILBERT  W.  WHITE 


Thirty  Studies  in  Old 
Testament  Characters 

Thirty  Studies  in  Minor 
Prophets 

Thirty  Studies  in  Gospel 
hy  John 


THE 

RESURRECTION  BODY 

“ According  to  the  Scriptures  ” 


BY 

WILBERT  W.  WHITE 


PRESIDENT,  THE  BIBLICAL  SEMINARY  IN 
NEW  YORK 


NEW 


YORK 


GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,  1923, 

BY  GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


THE  RESURRECTION  BODY.  II 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


We  have  actually  touched  the  borderland 
where  matter  and  energy  seem  to  merge  into 
one  another — the  shadowy  realm  between  the 
known  and  the  unknown .  I  venture  to  think 
the  greatest  scientific  problems  of  the  future 
will  find  their  solution  in  this  borderland,  and 
even  beyond .  Here,  it  seems  to  me,  lie  ultimate 
realities — subtle,  far  reaching,  wonderful. 

— Sir  William  Crookes. 


To  understand  the  new  physics  rightly  re¬ 
quires  almost  a  new  set  of  brain  cells.  ...  We 
are  dealing  with  what  is  to  us  well-nigh  the 
infinitely  great,  associated  with  the  infinitely 
little,  and  we  are  forced,  in  carrying  forward 
our  train  of  thought,  to  drive  a-team  ideas 
never  before  yoked  together. 

— Charles  Kassel  in  Immortality 
and  the  New  Physics,  “North 
American  Review,”  October,  1922. 


/ 


FOREWORD 


Rufus  Choate  is  reported  to  have  said  of 
John  Quincy  Adams  that  he  always  had  an  un¬ 
erring  instinct  for  the  jugular  vein.  By  this,  of 
course,  he  meant  that  Mr.  Adams  went  directly 
to  the  vital  part  of  any  matter.  In  attack,  pre¬ 
sumably,  he  would  leap  for  the  vulnerable  spot. 
It  was  an  unerring  instinct  for  the  jugular  vein 
which  led  Lord  Lyttleton  and  Gilbert  West 
years  ago  to  agree  that  if  they  could  explain 
satisfactorily  on  naturalistic  grounds  the  res¬ 
urrection  of  Jesus  and  the  conversion  of  Paul, 
they  would  be  able  to  prove  the  whole  system 
of  Christian  belief  to  be  without  substantial 
foundation.  This  they  attempted  to  do.  The 
result  was  that  the  one  wrote  a  valiant  defence 
of  the  fact  of  the  resurrection,  while  the  other 
published  an  equally  strong  argument  for  the 
reality  of  the  conversion  of  Paul. 

The  pivotal  relation  of  the  resurrection  to 
the  Christian  system  has  been  generally  ac¬ 
knowledged.  It  is  the  cardinal  fact  of  Chris- 

•  • 

Vll 


Vlll 


Foreword 


tianity.  Everything  hinges  on  it.  Strauss, 
one  of  the  great  leaders  of  modern  unbelief, 
declares  the  resurrection  to  be  the  “centre  of 
the  centre,  the  real  heart  of  Christianity  as  it 
has  been  until  now/’  The  Elder  Delitzsch  in 
his  commentary  on  Genesis  says  that,  while 
it  is  true  that  the  present  upheaval  in  the  field 
of  criticism  is  well  calculated  to  perplex  the 
conscience  and  entangle  weak  faith  in  all  man¬ 
ner  of  anxiety,  if,  however,  in  this  labyrinth 
there  remain  for  us  this  one  assurance,  chris- 
tus  vere  resurrexit  (Christ  was  truly  raised 
from  the  dead),  we  shall  possess  the  Ariadne- 
thread  to  guide  us  out  of  it. 

Dr.  David  Cairns  says:  “In  belief  in  the 
resurrection  is  the  spring  of  that  new  life  of 
faith  of  which  to-day  the  Church  stands  so 
much  in  need.” 

This  comment  by  Dr.  Cairns,  discovered 
after  the  manuscript  of  this  little  volume  was 
about  completed,  summarizes  the  conviction  of 
the  author,  who  is  not  without  earnest  ex¬ 
pectation  that  multitudes,  in  the  near  future, 
through  prayerful  perusal  of  the  source  books 
of  Christianity,  will  come  to  believe  in  their 
hearts  that  God  raised  Jesus  Christ  from  the 


Foreword 


IX 


dead,  and  in  consequence  will  exhibit  lives 
that  shall  reveal  Him  in  resurrection  power. 

In  this  study,  effort  has  been  made  to  be  true 
to  facts  rather  than  to  present  a  harmonized 
theory  and  full  explanation.  We  stand  with 
Swete  of  Cambridge,  who  discerningly  says 
that  the  narration  of  exceptional  events  is 
likely  to  present  parts  which  do  not  fit.  That 
they  do  not  fit  may  be  evidence  that  the  non¬ 
fitting  factors  were  really  seen.  And  if,  on 
a  deeper  examination  of  such  events,  it  is 
found  that  the  peculiarities  exhibit  one  under¬ 
lying  law,  the  natural  inference  is  that  the  nar¬ 
ratives  are  true. 

We  desire  to  be  understood  as  fully  and 
heartily  in  sympathy  with  all  scientific  inves¬ 
tigation  and  advance  of  knowledge.  Of  some 

of  the  new  knowledge  we  are  not  by  any  means 

» 

sure.  We  are  compelled  sometimes  to  substi¬ 
tute  for  the  words,  “Every  scholar  knows,” 
these  more  conservative  ones,  “Some  scholars  * 
think.”  Our  conception  of  Biblical  truth  leads 
us  to  rejoice  in  every  new  real  discovery  and 
in  every  assured  result  of  experiment.  We  do 
not  believe  that  religion  and  science  are  ene¬ 
mies.  There  must  be  something  wrong  either 


x  Foreword 

with  my  science  or  your  religion  if  they  are  not 
true  friends. 

As  for  evolution — there  are  many  kinds  of 
evolution.  The  word  calls  for  definition.  Let 
those  who  dispute  be  sure  they  understand  each 
other’s  terms.  We  have  not  the  slightest  fear 
that  the  teaching  of  the  Bible,  respecting  Jesus 
Christ  in  general  and  concerning  His  resurrec¬ 
tion  in  particular,  is  inconsistent  with  the  true 
findings  of  science.  So  we  are  not  afraid  of 
science.  In  these  days  of  undreamed  of  mar¬ 
vels,  with  the  knowledge  of  man  yet  conspicu¬ 
ous  for  its  limits,  who  will  venture  denial  of 
the  mystery  of  the  resurrection  as  presented 
in  Holy  Scripture? 

The  message  of  the  following  pages  is  ad¬ 
dressed  particularly  to  those  who  are  in  per¬ 
plexity  about  their  faith,  and  to  those  who 
sorrow  because  of  the  vanished  hand.  May 
Easter  be  a  season  in  which  with  reverent  fear 
and  great  joy  we  shall  turn  from  the  tomb  to 
Him  who  is  the  resurrection  and  the  life.  “Re¬ 
member  Jesus  Christ,  risen  from  the  dead.” 


W.  W.  W. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I  WITH  WHAT  BODY  DO  THEY  COME?  .  .  1 5 

II  HOW  ARE  THE  DEAD  RAISED?  ...  25 

III  WHY  IS  THE  RESURRECTION  JUDGED  IN¬ 

CREDIBLE?  . 31 

IV  WHY  IS  THE  RESURRECTION  JUDGED  CRED¬ 

IBLE  ? . 45 

V  THE  RESURRECTION  AND  THE  POWER  OF 


GOD 


83 


Chapter  I 


:  With  What  Body  Do 
They  Come? 


The  attitude  of  science  toward  the  notion  of 
a  supersensual  universe ,  or  series  of  universes, 
interacting  with  the  material  fabric  we  know — 
a  concept  fundamental  to  any  logical  theory  of 
immortality — has  ceased  to  be  the  hostile  or  in¬ 
different  one  it  was.  On  the  contrary,  it  might 
almost  seem  that  the  theory  of  a  universe  of 
finer  and  infinitely  more  potent  substance  is 
almost  ready  to  be  announced  by  our  scientific 
thinkers  as  an  inevitable  conclusion  from  recent 
discoveries . 

— Charles  Kassel  in  Immortality 
and  the  New  Physics,  ‘‘North 
American  Review,”  October,  1922. 


Chapter  I:  With  What  Body 
Do  They  Come? 

“The  body  of  the  resurrection  is  nothing 
other  than  God’s  volitional  repetition  of  the 
body  of  the  grave — with  splendid  additions 
Thus  affirms  Professor  Olin  Curtis,  in  The 
Christian  Faith ,  where  may  be  found  a  very 
remarkable  discussion  of  the  mystery  of  the 
resurrection  body. 

We  should  ever  keep  in  mind  that  the  dis¬ 
tinctive  teaching  of  Christianity  about  the  fu¬ 
ture  is  not  that  the  soul  is  immortal.  Pagan¬ 
ism  teaches  that.  It  is,  that  there  is  the  resur-  ' 
rection  of  the  body.  We  are  to  be  human  be¬ 
ings  in  the  world  to  come.  A  disembodied 
spirit  is  not  a  complete  human  being.  A  hu¬ 
man  being  consists  of  an  embodied  spirit.  The 
body  of  the  future  will  be  the  resurrection 
body.  “The  new  man  in  Christ  is  made  com¬ 
plete  only  by  the  resurrection  body.” 

Let  us  be  clear  in  our  thinking  about  the 

word  resurrection.  Reanimation  is  not  resur- 

15 


16  The  Resurrection  Body 

rection.  Reanimation,  which  is  the  same  as 
resuscitation,  means  bringing  back  to  life. 
Resurrection  is  more  than  this.  It  involves 
newness  of  life.  It  means  reunion  of  spirit 
and  body.  It  means  more  than  reunion  of 
spirit  with  the  old  body.  It  means  reunion  of 
spirit  with  a  new  and  different  body,  yet  a 
body  which  is  the  particular  person's  own  body 
under  the  law  of  identity ;  a  body  which  can  be 
traced  back  to  its  conditioning  clue,  namely,  the 
body  which  was  that  one  person's  during  life. 

*  So,  while  it  is  true  that  the  body  of  the  res¬ 
urrection  is  a  different  body,  it  is  also  equally 
true  that  it  is  the  same  body.  This  is  one  of 
the  several  paradoxes  of  the  Christian  faith. 

The  Scriptures  furnish  a  perfect  illustration 
of  what  we  are  saying.  Lazarus  was  reani¬ 
mated.  *  Jesus  was  resurrected.  The  stone  was 
required  to  be  rolled  away  to  permit  Lazarus 
to  come  out  of  the  tomb.  Jesus  did  not  re¬ 
quire  the  stone  to  be  rolled  away  in  order  that 
He  might  come  forth.  The  angel  rolled  away 
the  stone  from  the  door  of  the  tomb  to  let  the 
outsiders  in,  not  to  let  Jesus  out.  In  that  tomb 
were  evidences  of  the  resurrection  which  it  was 
desirable  the  disciples  should  see.  The  wind- 


With  What  Body  Do  They  Come?  17 

mg  sheets  spoke  as  eloquently  and  convincingly 
of  entrance  into  new  life,  as  the  empty  shell  of 
the  chrysalis  speaks  of  the  flight  of  the  but¬ 
terfly.  Lazarus  brought  with  him  out  of  the 
tomb  the  wrappings  of  the  grave  that  were 
about  him.  Jesus  came  forth  from  the  tomb 
without  the  winding  sheets  of  death.  He  did 
not  need  to  be  loosed  and  let  go.  He  was  the 
Prince  of  Life.  It  was  impossible  that  He 
should  be  holden  of  death.  What  of  the  cere¬ 
ments  provided  by  Joseph  of  Arimathaea,  and 
the  one  hundred  pounds  of  spices  brought  by 
Nicodemus?  Concerning  them,  more  later  in 
exposition  of  John  20:  1-10,  but  a  brief  word 
is  called  for  here.  The  usual  interpretation,  to 
the  effect  that  our  Lord  Himself  with  delibera¬ 
tion  unwrapped  the  grave  cloths  from  His  body 
and  placed  them  in  carefully  arranged  order 
on  the  stone  shelf  where  His  body  had  been 
resting,  and  then  folded  “the  napkin  that  was 
upon  his  head,”  laying  it  in  a  place  by  itself, 
is  unscriptural.  The  resurrection  body  became 
such  within  the  winding  sheets.  At  the  word 
of  God,  who  raised  Him  from  the  dead  (Acts 
2:24;  Ephesians  1:20),  He  sprang  in  His 
new,  powerful,  spiritual  body  out  of  the  wrap- 


18  The  Resurrection  Body 

pings,  thus  evidencing  Him  to  be  the  Son  of 
God  with  power  (Romans  1:4).  He  left  them 
intact,  except  for  the  head-roll  which,  when 
released,  naturally  fell  back  to  a  place  by  itself ; 
and  then  on  through  the  walls  of  the  sealed 
tomb  He  proceeded  into  the  free  atmosphere  of 
that  first  Easter  morning. 

The  question  which  we  all  ask,  With  what 
body  will  our  departed  come  ?  we  believe  should 
be  answered  in  terms  which  provide  reply  to 
this  other  question,  namely,  With  what  body 
did  Jesus  come  from  the  grave  ?  He  is  the  first 
fruits.  We  shall  be  like  Him  when  it  is  mani¬ 
fest  what  we  shall  be.  Following  as  faithfully 
as  possible  this  clue,  we  are  clear  already  that 
the  resurrection  body  is  not  the  body  reani¬ 
mated.  It  is  not  a  mere  return  to  life  in  the 
same  corruptible,  weak,  fleshly,  natural  body 
of  the  grave.  His  Easter  body  was  not  the 
natural  body  of  the  grave.  Ours  will  not  be. 
Paul  makes  this  very  clear  in  his  great  chapter 
on  the  resurrection — I  Corinthians,  fifteenth. 
He  tells  us  that  we  sow  not  the  body  that  shall 
be,  when  we  sow  wheat  or  oats  or  barley.  But 
we  sow  bare  grain,  and  in  the  strange,  mys¬ 
terious  new  life  which  succeeds  death,  God 


With  What  Body  Do  They  Come?  19 

gives  it  a  body  as  it  pleases  Him,  to  each  seed 
its  own  body. 

In  the  chapter  to  which  reference  has  just 
been  made  the  great  Apostle  recognizes  the 
fact  that  a  true  and  complete  human  being  is 
an  embodied  spirit,  not  a  disembodied  spirit. 
He  answers  the  question,  With  what  body  do 
they  come  ?  The  answer  is :  God  gives  it  a  * 
body,  a  suitable  body.  It  will  be  a  body  per-  * 
fectly  adapted  to  the  new  order  of  nature  in 
which  it  is  to  live.  It  will  be  an  incorruptible 
body.  It  will  be  a  body  conformed  to  the  body 
of  His  glory  (Philippians  3:21).  It  will  be 
a  powerful  body.  It  will  be  a  spiritual  body, 
whatever  that  means,  but  it  will  be  a  body. 
A  spiritual  body  means  a  body  adapted  to 
the  spiritual  existence  into  which  entrance  is 
gained  by  the  resurrection.  Perhaps  light  is 
thrown  on  the  meaning  of  the  word  “spiritual” 
by  expressions  found  later  in  the  chapter: 
“Now  I  say,  brethren,  that  flesh  and  blood 
cannot  enter  the  Kingdom  of  God.  ...  We 
shall  all  be  changed.  .  .  .  The  dead  shall  be 
raised  incorruptible.  .  .  .  This  mortal  must 
put  on  immortality.”  The  word  “spiritual”  is 
a  modifier  of  body,  so  that  there  is  a  body  in- 


20  The  Resurrection  Body 

volved.  Disembodiment  is  furthest  from  the 
Apostle’s  mind.  Westcott  challengingly  inter¬ 
prets  thus:  “When  the  laws  of  our  existence 
are  hereafter  modified,  then  we,  because  we 
are  unchanged,  shall  find  some  other  expres¬ 
sion,  truly  the  same  in  relation  to  that  new 
order,  because  it  is  not  the  same  as  that  to 
which  it  corresponds  in  this.” 

It  should  also  be  observed  that  this  masterly 
discussion  of  the  resurrection  by  St.  Paul  rec¬ 
ognizes  the  stability  of  nature  under  the  God 
of  this  mysterious  universe  in  which  we  live, 
in  that  each  order  of  life  remains  in  its  cate¬ 
gory.  “To  each  seed  a  body  of  its  own.  .  .  . 
There  is  one  flesh  of  men,  and  another  flesh 
of  beasts.  .  .  .  There  are  celestial  bodies  and 
bodies  terrestial.”  It  is  made  clear  that  in  the 
life  to  come  human  beings  will  continue  to  be 
such.  They  will  not  pass  into  creatures  of 
different  orders  either  below  or  above  them. 
The  use  of  this  portion  of  Scripture  with  those 
who  profess  to  believe  in  transmigration  of 
souls  has  been  found  interesting. 

The  thoughtful  reader  will  perhaps  be  stimu¬ 
lated  to  re-examine  the  Bible,  especially  the 
New  Testament,  for  its  emphasis  of  the  value 


With  What  Body  Do  They  Come?  21 

of  the  body  and  the  duty  of  paying  it  all  due 
respect  as  well  as  of  giving  it  all  due  care.  It 
was  under  the  influence  of  this  teaching  that 
a  great  theologian  and  Christian  pastor,  as  he 
followed  the  bier  of  an  only  son,  spake  kindly 
to  the  bearers,  saying,  “Tread  softly,  young 
men,  you  carry  a  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost.” 

It  was  doubtless  the  same  consideration  for 
the  body  that  prompted  Archbishop  Whately, 
when  some  one  quoted  the  King  James  Version 
of  Philippians  3:  21  in  his  hearing,  using  the 
expression,  “who  shall  change  our  vile  body,” 
to  seize  the  book  and  render  it  as  the  Greek 
demands:  “We  wait  for  a  Saviour,  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  who  shall  fashion  anew  the  body 
of  our  humiliation ,  that  it  may  be  conformed 
to  the  body  of  his  glory,  according  to  the 
working  whereby  he  is  able  even  to  subdue  all 
things  unto  himself.” 

Christianity  honors  the  body.  It  recognizes 
it  as  a  place  where  the  great  God  desires 
to  dwell.  It  has  been  supremely  honored  by 
the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God.  Being 
found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  He  humbled  Him¬ 
self  and  became  obedient  unto  death,  even  the 
death  of  the  cross.  Wherefore  God  also 


22  The  Resurrection  Body 

highly  exalted  Him.  To  His  servants  it  is 
given  to  be  like  Him  and  with  Him  in  glory. 

•  “St.  Paul’s  expression  of  Christian  hope,”  says 
Chancellor  Bernard,  “is  not  deliverance  from 
the  body,  but  redemption  of  the  body.  The  re¬ 
demption  of  the  body  is  the  last  stage  in  the 
great  process  of  adoption  (™o0eo-tas)  by  which 
we  are  made  'sons  of  God.’  ”  Who  should  not 
bow  in  humble  and  thankful  adoration  for  the 
high  calling  to  which  mankind  has  thus  been 
summoned  ? 


Chapter  II:  How  Are  the  Dead 

Raised? 


Who  knows  how  it  is  that  the  mind ,  as  we  are 
familiar  with  it ,  moves  at  its  will  the  fingers 
of  the  hand?  This — our  familiarity  with  the 
phenomenon  aside — is  a  veritable  miracle .  We 
are  as  ignorant  of  its  final  cause  as  we  are  of 
the  primary  cause  of  electricity ,  or  as  we  are 
ignorant  of  gravitation  in  its  first  cause,  or  of 
heat,  or  light,  or  even  of  the  thing  that  makes 
a  seed  grow.  These  things  are,  despite  our  in¬ 
ability  to  understand  them,  and  it  is  no  strain 
upon  the  reason  to  suppose  that  the  like  may  be 
true  with  bodies  of  ether,  or  of  some  higher, 
more  transcendent  substance  which  surpasses 
the  ether  in  its  properties  and  uses  it  as  we  use 
the  electric  and  magnetic  forces  that  lie  in 
nature. 

— Charles  Kassel  in  Immortality  and  the 
New  Physics,  “North  American  Review,” 
October,  1922. 


Chapter  II:  How  Are  the 
Dead  Raised? 

There  is  no  better  brief  comprehensive  reply 
to  this  question  than  that  given  by  St.  Paul 
(I  Corinthians,  fifteenth  chapter)  :  “God  giv- 
eth  a  body  as  it  pleaseth  him.”  In  further 
answer  to  the  questions:  How  are  the  dead 
raised?  and,  With  what  body  do  they  come? 
I  adopt  and  employ  the  statement  of  Dr.  Olin 
Curtis  as  the  best  of  those  I  know.  It  is  as 
follows : 

Negatively  speaking,  God,  in  the  resurrec¬ 
tion  of  the  dead,  does  not  produce  the  new  body 
by  the  development  of  an  indestructible  germ 
which  is  within  the  body  of  this  life.  Nor  does 
He  produce  it  by  a  natural  force  which  in  some 
way  belongs  to  the  body  of  this  life.  Neither 
is  the  body  to  be  an  ethereal  body  which  be¬ 
fore  or  at  the  time  of  death  was  within  the 
physical  body  as  the  kernel  is  within  the  husk 
of  a  nut.  It  is  not  the  literal  body  of  the  grave 

reconstructed,  whether  by  using  all,  or  many, 

25 


26  The  Resurrection  Body 

or  a  few  or  even  one,  of  the  old  material  atoms. 
All  this  chasing  through  the  universe  to  get 
the  identical  particles  of  matter,  or  enough  of 
them  to  constitute  a  “proper  identity/'  is  not 
only  an  absurdity  in  philosophy,  but  a  serious 
misinterpretation  of  St.  Paul.  Further,  it  is 
not  the  result  of  any  natural  law,  any  habitual 
divine  volition,  such  as  brings  the  buds  and 
blossoms  of  spring. 

Speaking  positively,  the  body  of  the  resur¬ 
rection  is  a  purely  spiritual  body  (not  bound 
by  the  laws  of  this  world)  ;  made  by  the  direct 
and  new  intention  of  God;  but  so  made  as  to 
be  conditioned  by  the  body  of  the  grave. 
Every  glorified  body  is  in  occasional  connec¬ 
tion  with  a  single  physical  body  just  as  really 
as  my  body  to-day  is  in  occasional  connection 
with  the  body  of  my  childhood.  The  child's 
body  conditions  the  man’s  body — is  the  start, 
the  initial  indicative,  the  determining  funda¬ 
ment,  in  God’s  own  process  of  identity.  The 
body  I  have  now  is  what  it  is  because  the  body 
of  my  childhood  was  what  it  was.  I  have  lost 
every  old  particle  of  matter,  times  and  times, 
but  I  have  remained  in  my  own  category  of 
identity.  Not  for  an  instant  has  my  body 


How  Are  the  Dead  Raised?  27 


leaped  into  another  man's  category.  Precisely 
so,  a  man’s  body  of  glory  is  his  own  body  un¬ 
der  the  law  of  identity,  and  can  be  traced  back 
to  its  conditioning  clue,  namely,  the  body  which 
that  one  man  had  at  the  time  of  death.  Every 
abiding  element,  the  entire  intrinsic  plan  and 
meaning  of  the  material  body,  is  by  the  resur¬ 
rection  brought  again  into  fact  and  made  glori¬ 
ous.  Indeed,  were  it  feasible  to  enter  into  a 
thorough  philosophical  discussion  to  show  what 
matter  actually  is,  such  a  discussion  would,  I 
believe,  make  it  evident  that  the  body  of  the 
resurrection  is  nothing  other  than  God’s  voli¬ 
tional  repetition  of  the  body  of  the  grave —  * 
with  splendid  additions . 


Chapter  III:  Why  Is  the  Resurrection 
Judged  Incredible? 


If  we  suppose  Intelligence ,  with  an  organism 
answering  in  its  characteristics  merely  to  the 
properties  of  the  ether ,  we  have  a  being  con¬ 
forming  very  nearly ,  if  not  quite ,  to  the  notion 
the  mystics  had  of  the  indwellers  of  the  super- 
sensual  world.  With  bodies  more  dense  than 
steel ,  though  unamenable  to  earthly  sight  or 
touch ,  these  creatures  would  see  the  fleshly 
forms  as  a  shadowy  garment ,  and  matter  at 
large  but  as  a  film  thinner  than  air  which  of¬ 
fered  no  bar  to  their  passage.  And exempt 
from  the  laws  of  gravitation  which  hold  prison 
bound  the  frame  of  clay ,  they  might  levitate  at 
will ,  and  zvith  the  swiftness  of  light  transport 
themselves  from  planet  to  planet.  From  the 
sun's  flame  they  could  take  no  harm  and  even 
the  chill  of  absolute  zero  would  leave  their 
bodies  unscathed. 

— Charles  Kassel  in  Immortality  and  the 
New  Physics,  “North  American  Review, ” 
October,  1922. 


Chapter  III:  Why  Is  the  Res¬ 
urrection  Judged  Incredible? 

This  question  of  St.  Paul  addressed  to  King 
Agrippa  (Acts  26:  8)  may  well  be  employed  to 
include  a  brief,  partial  statement  both  of  ex¬ 
planations  of  rejection  of  the  Easter  message 
and  of  reasons  for  acceptance  of  it  as  true. 

Why  do  some  disbelieve  the  Easter  message 
of  the  empty  tomb  and  the  appearances  of  Jesus 
as  Lord  of  death  and  the  grave  ? 

One  reason  is  because,  as  in  the  days  of  our 
Lord,  there  are  those  who  have  adopted  a  world 
view  which  does  not  permit  the  belief.  The 
sect  of  the  Sadducees  denied  the  resurrection. 
They  went  further.  “The  Sadducees  say  that 
there  is  no  resurrection,  neither  angel,  nor 
spirit;  but  the  Pharisees  confess  both”  (Acts 
23 :  8.  “On  that  day  there  came  to  him  Sad¬ 
ducees,  they  that  say  there  is  no  resurrection” 
(Matthew  22 :  23). 

Paul  addressed  the  representative  of  an¬ 
other  type  of  present-day  unbeliever  in  the  res- 

31 


32  The  Resurrection  Body 

urrection  when  to  King  Agrippa  he  said 
(Acts  26),  “Why  is  it  judged  incredible  with 
you,  if  God  should  raise  the  dead?”  This  class 
is  living  luxuriously  and  is  careless  of  the  fu¬ 
ture.  Attention  to  affairs  of  the  spirit  is  not 
popular  in  its  circle.  Its  members  smile  super¬ 
ciliously  at  efforts  of  serious-minded  believers 
to  bring  them  face  to  face  with  reality.  Paul 
in  his  great  chapter  on  the  resurrection 
(I  Corinthians,  fifteenth)  intimates  that  with 
some  at  Corinth  evil  companionships  were  the 
explanation  of  doubt  about  the  resurrection. 
He  reviews  the  evidence  for  the  resurrection 
of  our  Lord,  and  then  proceeds  to  indicate  in¬ 
consistency  on  the  part  of  certain  members  of 
the  Corinthian  Church  (“some  among  you”)  in 
believing  that  our  Lord  rose,  while  at  the  same 
time  doubting  the  possibility  of  resurrection  of 
their  own  beloved  dead.  It  would  seem  that 
these  people  were  faced  by  indisputable  evi¬ 
dence  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  and  at  the 
same  time  were  living  such  untrue  lives  as  to 
be  unsettled  about  the  resurrection  of  their  own 
dead !  He  earnestly  warns  them  not  to  be  de¬ 
ceived.  “Evil  communications,”  says  he,  “cor¬ 
rupt  good  manners.” 


Resurrection  Judged  Incredible?  33 

The  influence  of  great  names  coupled  with 
faulty  exegesis  of  Scripture  is  a  powerful  in¬ 
fluence  with  the  average  person  in  the  direction 
of  practical  denial  of  the  resurrection,  and  con¬ 
sequent  abandon  to  the  free  and  easy  life  re¬ 
ferred  to  by  Paul  when  he  says:  “If  we  are 
found  false  witnesses  ...  let  us  eat  and 
drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die.”  Professor  Har- 
nack  in  What  Is  Christianity?  declares  that  the 
New  Testament  itself  distinguishes  between 
the  Easter  message  of  the  empty  grave  and  the 
appearance  of  Jesus  on  the  one  side,  and  the 
Easter  faith  on  the  other.  By  the  Easter  faith 
he  means  that  Jesus  is  alive,  but  the  tomb  was 
not  opened,  nor  did  Jesus  appear  “according 
to  the  Scriptures.”  He  asserts  that,  although 
the  greatest  value  is  attached  in  the  Scripture 
to  that  message,  we  are  to  hold  the  Easter 
faith  even  in  its  absence.  In  support,  he  tells 
us  that  the  story  of  Thomas  is  given  for  the 
exclusive  purpose  of  impressing  us  that  we 
must  hold  the  Easter  faith  even  without  the 
Easter  message.  “Blessed  are  they  that  have 
not  seen  and  vet  have  believed.”  He  further 
says  that  the  disciples  on  the  road  to  Emmaus 
were  blamed  for  not  believing,  even  though  the 


34  The  Resurrection  Body 

Easter  message  had  not  yet  reached  them. 

Is  Professor  Harnack  a  safe  exegete  of 
Scripture  in  these  instances?  Let  us  see.  Is 
it  not  true  (see  John,  twentieth  chapter)  that 
Thomas  had  already  been  given  the  Easter 
message  by  his  fellow-disciples?  They  had  told 
him  that  they  had  seen  the  Lord.  He  had  al¬ 
ready  rejected  the  Easter  message  at  the  mouth 
of  trustworthy  friends  and  consequently  was 
without  the  Easter  faith.  The  Lord’s  address 
to  Thomas  was  substantially  as  follows,  when 
we  take  into  account  the  context :  Thomas,  you 
declined  to  accept  the  Easter  message  (the  mes¬ 
sage  of  the  empty  tomb  and  of  My  appearances 
hitherto)  as  true  on  the  word  of  your  fellow- 
disciples.  Blessed  are  those  who  do  not  reject 
this  message  of  theirs,  as  you  have  done. 
While  in  this  special  instance  I  have  met  your 
demand  for  sight  and  touch,  the  method  for  the 
time  to  come  will  be  that  of  belief  of  the  mes¬ 
sage  on  testimony.  I  shall  not  make  it  a  rule 
to  appear  in  bodily  form  as  I  have  done  to  you. 
The  message  of  My  rising  from  the  dead  will 
be  carried  by  you  and  your  fellow  disciples  who 
have  seen  Me.  By  that  message  the  Easter 
faith  will  be  created.  On  that  message  the 


Resurrection  Judged  Incredible?  35 

Easter  faith  will  rest.  Your  own  testimony 
on  this  particular  occasion  will  be  recorded  and 
read  by  multitudes  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 
It  will  be  a  great  aid  to  their  faith.  It  will  even 
be  the  means  of  creating  the  Easter  faith  in 
many.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  I  have  ap¬ 
peared  to  you.  These  things  will  be  written 
that  people  everywhere  in  days  to  come  may  be¬ 
lieve  that  I  am  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  and 
that  believing  they  may  have  life  in  My 
name. 

Turning  to  Luke,  the  twenty-fourth  chapter, 
the  thoughtful  reader  will  there  also  take  issue 
with  Professor  Harnack’s  exegesis.  He  says 
that  “the  two  were  blamed  for  not  believing  in 
the  resurrection  even  though  the  Easter  mes¬ 
sage  had  not  yet  reached  them/’  The  fact  is 
that  Jesus  did  not  blame  them  for  this  at  all. 
He  expressed  surprise  at  their  failure  to  grasp 
the  Easter  message  in  view  of  its  presence  in 
the  Prophets.  Plis  words  are :  “O  foolish  men, 
and  slow  of  heart  to  believe  [the  Easter  mes¬ 
sage]  after  all  that  the  prophets  have  spoken! 
And  beginning  from  Moses  and  from  all  the 
prophets  he  interpreted  to  them  in  all  the 
scriptures  the  things  concerning  himself.” 


36  The  Resurrection  Body 

Moreover  they  had  already  received  the  mes¬ 
sage.  They  spoke  to  Him  of  certain  persons 
who  had  reported  that  the  tomb  was  empty 
and  that  Jesus  was  alive. 

Surely  Professor  Harnack’s  exegesis  of  the 
parts  of  the  Gospels  by  Luke  and  John  given 
above,  does  not  conform  to  the  canon  of  in¬ 
terpretation  laid  down  by  Bengel  when  he  says : 
“An  expositor  should  be  like  the  maker  of  a 
well,  who  puts  no  water  into  the  source  him¬ 
self,  but  makes  it  his  object  to  let  the  water 
flow  without  diversion,  stoppage  or  defile¬ 
ment. ’’  We  fain  would  ask  Professor  Har- 
nack,  in  all  earnestness,  what  he  means  by  the 
Easter  faith.  He  describes  it  in  the  words, 
“Jesus  is  alive.”  In  what  sense  is  Jesus  alive? 
Is  it  in  the  same  sense  in  which  Abraham  is 
alive,  or  Paul,  or  Luther?  If  Jesus  is  not  alive 
according  to  the  Easter  message,  of  what  spe¬ 
cial  value  to  me  is  the  faith  that  He  is  alive. 

Note  in  passing,  the  manner  in  which  this 
twenty-fourth  chapter  of  St.  Luke  puts  Jesus 
into  the  Old  Testament,  including  specifically 
His  death,  His  resurrection  on  the  third  day, 
and  the  preaching  of  repentance  and  remission 
of  sins  in  His  name  unto  all  the  nations.  The 


Resurrection  Judged  Incredible?  37 

Old  Testament  is  not  brought  into  evidence  in 
present-day  apologetics  as  it  deserves  to  be 
used.  If  we  are  not  greatly  mistaken,  it  will 
be  coming  back  to  its  own  soon. 

How  comes  it  to  pass  tJhat  honored  leaders 
have  gone  to  such  lengths  in  their  thinking  as 
seriously  to  consider,  and  publicly  to  advocate, 
such  a  severance  as  that  of  the  Easter  faith  * 
from  the  Easter  message?  The  explanation  is 
believed  to  be  found  in  the  words  of  Henry 
Robert  Reynolds  in  the  Introduction  to  his 
book  on  John  the  Baptist,  where  he  says:  “If 
in  deference  to  the  Zeitgeist,  our  religious 
leaders  should  recklessly  surrender  every  posi¬ 
tion  which  is  speciously  assailed,  in  forgetful¬ 
ness  that  the  assault  has  been  successfully  re¬ 
pelled  by  those  who  have  not  lost  heart,  the 
cause  of  Christ  will  be  for  a  period  dis¬ 
honoured,  and  a  time  of  deep  discouragement 
will  prevail.” 

The  spirit  of  the  times  has  already  stam¬ 
peded  not  a  few  into  compromise  with  what 
they  believe  to  be  the  demands  of  science.  This 
has  resulted  in  a  surrender  of  positions  sup¬ 
ported  by  valid  evidence  and  sound  reasoning. 
However  there  are  many  who  have  not  lost 


38  The  Resurrection  Body 

faith  nor  have  they  lost  heart.  These  trust 
that  in  the  days  to  come  (may  we  not  hope 
soon)  the  critical  spirit  will  be  replaced  by  the 
judicial  temper,  and  that  the  scientific  method 
will  be  employed  wholly  and  not  partially  as 
is  so  often  the  case  at  present.  Indeed  already 
there  are  even  among  those  who  have  caught 
and  slain  the  nightingale,  certain  discerning 
spirits  who  have  begun  to  lament  the  silence  of 
the  forest.  We  cannot  have  the  Easter  faith 
once  the  Easter  message  is  gone.  There  is 
even  now  widespread  evidence  of  the  absence 
of  the  faith  where  the  message  has  been  re¬ 
jected.  The  average  man  is  usually  consistent 
in  his  thinking. 

Why  do  so  many  doubt  or  wholly  reject  the 
Easter  message?  This  question  is  partly  an¬ 
swered,  I  repeat,  because  the  scientific  method 
is  not  faithfully,  persistently,  and  patiently 
employed  in  the  matter.  We  need  here  not 
only  to  carry  on.  We  need  to  carry  through . 
Defining  the  scientific  method  in  somewhat 
different  terms  from  those  already  suggested 
(see  Inductive  Method  in  dictionary),  we  may 
say  that  it  consists  of  exact  observation,  cor¬ 
rect  interpretation,  rational  explanation,  and 


Resurrection  Judged  Incredible?  39 

reasonable  construction.  We  ought  to  add 
also,  obedient  application.  Neptune  is  the 
outermost  known  planet  of  the  solar  system.  It 
requires  164  years  to  make  its  journey  around 
the  sun!  Its  distance  is  2,760,000,000  miles 
from  the  sun!  It  was  discovered  September 
23,  1846,  by  Galle  of  Berlin.  The  discovery 
was  made  as  the  result  of  calculations  by  Le- 
verrier.  Adams,  an  English  astronomer,  had 
previously  made  calculations  which  indicated 
the  same  result.  Neptune  was  located  before 
discovered.  Neptune  was  located  by  the  Induc¬ 
tive  Method,  which  is  another  way  of  saying, 
by  the  Scientific  Method.  An  effect  was  ob¬ 
served  and  an  adequate  cause  for  it  was  sought. 
The  opinion  is  confidently  ventured  that  if  in 
the  study  of  the  resurrection  men  would  ob¬ 
serve,  interpret,  explain,  construct,  and  obey 
as  faithfully  as  was  done  in  locating  and  dis¬ 
covering  the  planet  Neptune,  they  would  find 
that  the  Easter  faith,  according  to  the  Scrip¬ 
tures,  is  inseparable  from  the  Easter  message. 

A  question  is  in  place  here.  Why,  since  the 
resurrection  is  such  a  transcendently  important 
fact,  if  a  fact,  is  it  not  so  indisputably  evi¬ 
denced  as  to  preclude  all  possibility  of  doubt 


40  The  Resurrection  Body 

on  the  part  of  anybody?  We  are  sobered  in 
our  thinking  by  the  consideration  that  were 
such  the  case,  the  moral  as  well  as  the  intel¬ 
lectual  significance  of  Christianity  would  be 
impaired.  The  programme  of  Christianity 
calls  for  belief  on  evidence  rather  than  on  ex¬ 
planation.  This  is  the  method  of  science.  To 
chosen  witnesses,  and  not  to  all  the  people,  the 
Saviour  appeared  after  His  passion.  He  ap¬ 
pointed  a  campaign  of  testimony  for  the  days 
ahead.  This  is  clear  from  His  words  to 
Thomas :  “Blessed  are  they  who  have  not  seen 
and  yet  have  believed.”  The  next  verses  (John 
20 :  30,  31)  indicate  the  method  by  which  be¬ 
lief  is  to  be  secured :  “These  things  are  written 
that  ye  may  believe.” 

Christianity  certainly  involves  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  the  whole  of  man.  Its  method  is  es¬ 
sentially  scientific.  Schiller  of  Oxford  is  right 
when  he  declares  the  identity  of  method  in 
science  and  religion  to  be  far  more  funda¬ 
mental  than  the  differences.  Both  call  for  ac¬ 
tion  on  probability,  even  on  possibility.  Both 
require  experimentation.  Both  lead  to  certain 
knowledge  through  obedience  to  law.  It  is 
quite  generally  believed  that  a  large  element  in 


Resurrection  Judged  Incredible?  41 

true  education  consists  of  ability  to  weigh  evi¬ 
dence.  The  scientific  method  calls  for  exact 
observation,  correct  description,  and  just  valua¬ 
tion.  This  method  would  be  uncalled  for  if  the 
resurrection  of  Christ  were  so  attested  that 
nobody  could  possibly  doubt  the  fact.  There  is 
profound  wisdom  in  what  is  involved  in  the 
words  of  the  prophet  (Isaiah  45:  15)  :  “Verily 
thou  art  a  God  that  hidest  thyself,  O  God  of 
Israel,  the  Saviour.”  There  is  supreme  chal¬ 
lenge  to  the  intellectual  and  moral  possibilities 
of  mankind  in  Christianity’s  method  of  ap¬ 
proach  to  the  race.  Latham  in  Pastor  Pas- 
torum  says:  “If  our  Lord’s  resurrection  had 
been  so  attested  that  no  sane  person  could 
doubt  of  the  fact;  if  he  had  appeared  in  public 
and  appalled  Pilate  on  his  judgment  seat  or 
Herod  on  his  throne,  then,  strange  as  it  may 
appear,  by  the  very  fact  of  historic  certainty 
being  well  established,  the  moral  significance  of 
the  resurrection  would  be  impaired.  For,  the 
acceptance  of  it  would  be  independent  of  that 
which  I  have  so  often  said  is  essential  to  re¬ 
ligious  belief,  the  concurrence  of  the  free 
human  will.” 


\ 


Chapter  IV:  Why  Is  the  Resurrection 
Judged  Credible? 


Although  at  first  sight ,  the  idea  that  we  are 
immersed  in  a  medium  almost  infinitely  denser 
than  lead  might  seem  inconceivable,  it  is  not  so 
if  we  remember  that  in  all  probability  matter  is 
composed  mainly  of  holes.  We  may  in  fact  re¬ 
gard  matter  as  possessing  a  bird-cage  kind  of 
structure,  in  which  the  volume  of  ether  dis¬ 
turbed  by  the  wires  when  the  structure  is  moved 
is  infinitesimal  in  comparison  with  the  volume 
enclosed  by  them.  If  we  do  this  there  is  no  dif¬ 
ficulty  from  the  great  density  of  the  ether ;  all 
that  we  have  to  do  is  to  increase  the  distance 
between  the  wires  in  proportion  as  we  increase 
the  density  of  the  ether. 


Prof.  J.  J.  Thompson. 


Chapter  IV:  Why  is  the  Res¬ 
urrection  Judged  Credible? 

We  return  to  ask  a  second  time  the  question 
put  to  King  Agrippa  by  Paul:  “Why  is  it 
judged  incredible  with  you,  if  God  should 
raise  the  dead?’'  The  absence  of  good  reason 
for  unbelief  is  here  clearly  intimated.  The 
grounds  for  acceptance  of  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  as  a  fact  and  appropriate  action  in  the 
light  of  the  fact  are  suggested  by  Paul  to  be 
most  substantial. 

Almost  without  realizing  it  we  are  face  to 
face  with  one  of  the  most  outstanding  and  com¬ 
pelling  reasons  for  belief  in  the  Easter  mes¬ 
sage.  It  is  this,  that  Paul  the  Apostle  be-  * 
lieved  it.  On  it  he  rested  his  Easter  faith. 
Can  there  be  any  doubt  about  his  conception  of 
of  the  relation  of  the  Easter  message  and  the 
Easter  faith  to  each  other?  Verify,  if  you 
will,  by  restudy  of  the  four  great  letters  of  his 

concerning  which  the  boldest  criticism  has  not 

45 


46  The  Resurrection  Body 

even  suggested  doubt ;  viz. :  The  letters  to  the 
Corinthians,  and  the  Epistles  to  the  Galatians 
and  the  Romans.  Remember  as  you  do  this 
that  these  letters  all  were  written  less  than 
thirty  years  after  the  death  of  Jesus  to  com¬ 
panies  of  Christians  living  in  the  three  distinct 
and  distinctive  regions  bordering  on  the  north 
of  the  Great  Sea,  Asia  Minor,  Greece,  and 
Italy.  Remember  also  that  they  were  written 
by  a  man  who  formerly  had  most  bitterly  op¬ 
posed  both  the  message  and  the  faith  of 
Easter. 

It  will  be  helpful  to  clarity  of  thought  and 
consequent  fairness  of  judgment  to  be  keeping 
in  mind  Professor  Harnack’s  position  as  we 
proceed.  This  position  represents  the  most  up- 
to-date,  the  only  and  final,  stand  which  can  be 
taken  by  those  who  reject  the  Pauline  teaching 
concerning  the  resurrection.  Professor  Har¬ 
nack’s  belief,  we  repeat,  is  that  the  Easter  mes¬ 
sage,  which  consists  of  the  empty  grave  and  the 
appearances  of  Jesus  in  His  resurrection  body, 
must  be  distinguished  from  the  Easter  faith. 
The  message,  he  affirms,  we  can  no  longer  hold. 
Without  it,  however,  he  maintains  that  we 
must  hold  the  faith,  which  is  that  Jesus  is 


Resurrection  Judged  Credible4?  47 

alive.  In  the  words  of  another,  Professor 
Harnack’s  position  is  adopted  thus :  “I  don’t  be¬ 
lieve  in  the  bodily  resurrection  of  Jesus. — 
Jesus  alive?  Yes.  But  I  just  can’t  believe  in 
the  bodily  resurrection.” 

It  is  thus  clearly  seen  that  the  Modernist 
boldly  rejects  the  documentary  evidence.  We 
frankly  accept  it,  not  blindly,  but  with  fairly 
complete  knowledge  of  the  situation.  Instead 
of  accepting  the  statement  of  the  Modernist  to 
the  effect  that  “every  scholar  knows”  his  (the 
Modernist’s)  position  to  be  true,  we  are  able 
to  go  only  so  far  as  to  affirm  that  “some 
scholars  think”  the  Modernist  position  true.  It 
should  not  be  forgotten  for  a  moment  that  the 
rejection  of  the  evidence  is  made  on  critical  and 
not  on  judicial  grounds.  The  documents  al¬ 
ready  referred  to  (the  letters  to  the  Corin¬ 
thians,  the  Romans  and  the  Galatians),  as  well 
as  the  remainder  of  the  New  Testament  are  re¬ 
ceived  in  courts  of  civilization  as  reliable  and 
trustworthy  testimony.  The  judges  of  the 
earth  have  not  considered  themselves  justified 
in  proceeding  as  far  as  the  critics  of  the 
Church. 

We  fain  would  pause  to  ask  in  all  candor 


48  The  Resurrection  Body 

which  “on  the  face  of  it”  is  the  more  reason¬ 
able,  the  Biblical  position,  or  that  of  Professor 
Harnack.  The  Biblical  records  proceed  upon 
the  basis  that  the  Easter  message  and  the 
Easter  faith  belong  together.  The  every-day, 
common,  and  usually  safe  judgment  of  man¬ 
kind,  we  believe,  will  continue  to  think  that 
the  Easter  faith  cannot  exist  without  the 
Easter  message,  any  more  than  a  house  can 
stand  without  a  support  of  some  kind  under 
it,  or  that  a  tree  can  bear  fruit  without  roots. 
How  can  a  tree  be  a  tree  at  all,  without  its 
underground  counterpart  ? 

The  organizing  centre  of  our  answer  to  the 
question,  Why  accept  the  Easter  message?  is 
.  the  fact  that  the  first  generation  of  Christians 
believed  it.  This  fact  of  belief  on  the  part  of 
the  Apostolic  group  and  the  first  century  Chris¬ 
tians  we  are  confident  can  be  adequately  ac¬ 
counted  for  only  on  the  basis  of  the  resurrection 
as  a  fact. 

Leading  up  to  this  answer  in  somewhat  fuller 
form,  let  us  closely  examine  selected  represen¬ 
tative  portions  of  the  Biblical  record  that  we 
may  grasp  clearly  its  own  way  of  conveying  the 
Easter  message. 


Resurrection  Judged  Credible*?  49 

THE  EMPTY  TOMB  IN  THE  GOSPEL  BY  JOHN 

The  empty  tomb  is  in  evidence  in  each  of  the 
four  Gospels.  The  account,  most  challenging, 
and  offering  opportunity  for  direct,  intensive, 
first-hand,  psychological  testing  by  any  reader, 
is  found  in  the  first  ten  verses  of  the  twentieth 
chapter  of  St.  John.  That  this  record  can  be 
a  fabrication  is  to  me  unthinkable.  Please  fol¬ 
low  in  the  study  of  it  and  judge  for  yourself. 

The  account  reads  as  follows  (see  John 
20:  1-10)  : 


“Now  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  cometh 
Mary  Magdalene  early,  while  it  was  yet  dark, 
unto  the  tomb,  and  seeth  the  stone  taken  away 
from  the  tomb.  She  runneth  therefore,  and 
cometh  to  Simon  Peter,  and  to  the  other  dis¬ 
ciple  whom  Jesus  loved,  and  saith  unto  them, 
They  have  taken  away  the  Lord  out  of  the 
tomb,  and  we  know  not  where  they  have  laid 
him.  Peter  therefore  went  forth,  and  the  other 
disciple,  and  they  went  toward  the  tomb.  And 
they  ran  both  together:  and  the  other  disciple 
outran  Peter,  and  came  first  to  the  tomb;  and 
stooping  and  looking  in,  he  seeth  the  linen 
cloths  lying;  yet  entered  he  not  in.  Simon 
Peter  therefore  also  cometh,  following  him, 
and  entered  into  the  tomb;  and  he  beheld  the 


50  The  Resurrection  Body 

linen  cloths  lying,  and  the  napkin  that  was  upon 
his  head,  not  lying  with  the  linen  cloths,  but 
rolled  up  in  a  place  by  itself.  Then  entered  in 
therefore  the  other  disciple  also,  who  came  first 
to  the  tomb,  and  he  saw,  and  believed.  For  as 
yet  they  knew  not  the  scripture,  that  he  must 
rise  again  from  the  dead.  So  the  disciples  went 
away  again  unto  their  own  home.” 

Observe  carefully  as  we  proceed  and  use 
your  historical  imagination  freely  in  order  to 
picture  the  scene  accurately  in  all  its  details. 

1.  The  tomb  is  the  centre  of  attention  in  the 
account.  Note,  “unto  the  tomb,”  “from  the 
tomb,”  “out  of  the  tomb,”  “toward  the  tomb,” 
“to  the  tomb,”  “into  the  tomb,”  “to  the 
tomb.” 

In  this  new  tomb  the  body  of  Jesus  had  been 
placed.  A  great  stone  had  been  rolled  against 
the  door.  Upon  the  stone  had  been  put  the  seal 
of  the  Roman  Empire.  Watchers  had  been  on 
guard  to  keep  the  tomb  from  being  disturbed. 

2.  This  tomb  is  approached  by  three  differ¬ 
ent  people,  Mary  Magdalene,  Peter,  and  “the 
other  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved.”  Mary  came 
to  it  (presumably  walking).  From  it  she  went 
running .  The  other  two  came  running.  For 
awhile  after  they  started  they  ran  together. 


Resurrection  Judged  Credible?  51 

One  of  them,  the  younger,  running  faster  than 
the  other,  reached  the  tomb  first. 

3.  The  reason  why  Mary  ran  from  the  tomb 
to  which  she  came  walking,  was  because  she 
saw  something  which  led  her  to  jump  to  an 
exciting  conclusion.  What  she  saw  was  that  * 
the  tomb  was  open.  The  stone  which  had  been 
rolled  against  the  door  of  the  tomb  had  been 
taken  away.  “She  saw  the  stone  taken  away.” 
The  inference  was  that  somebody  had  taken 
away  the  body  of  Jesus.  In  this  she  was  mis¬ 
taken,  but  as  fast  as  her  feet  could  carry  her, 
she  went  to  the  disciples  and  told  them  what 
she  believed,  namely,  that  the  body  of  Jesus 
had  been  removed  from  the  tomb.  Imagine 
the  excitement  with  which  she  informed  these 
men,  and  the  promptness  with  which  they  must 
have  started  toward  the  tomb.  The  account 
gives  me  the  impression  that  they  became  more 
eager  as  they  proceeded,  and  if  possible  ran 
faster  and  faster.  One  was  younger  than  the 
other  and  consequently  could  run  faster.  He 
reached  the  tomb  first,  but  was  not  the  first  to 
enter.  There  is  psychology  here  which  fits  per-  * 
fectly  the  collection  of  records  concerning  the 
events  and  persons  involved. 


52  The  Resurrection  Body 

4.  “The  other  disciple”  is  the  second  one  in 
the  account  who  is  said  to  have  seen  something. 
Mary  was  the  first.  She  saw  from  without  the 
tomb  the  stone  rolled  away,  and  inferred  what 
was  not  true  from  what  she  saw.  “The  other 
disciple”  saw  from  without  the  tomb  also,  but 
from  near  the  tomb — he  was  near  enough  to 
look  inside.  He  saw  the  linen  cloths  lying. 
These  were  the  cerements  or  grave  wrappings 
which  had  been  about  the  body  of  Jesus.  In 
verses  at  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  chapter  of 
this  Gospel  by  John  we  are  told  that  the  body 
of  Jesus  was  bound  in  linen  cloths  wrapped 
with  about  a  hundred  pounds  of  spices  brought 
by  Joseph  of  Arimathaea  and  Nicodemus,  the 
two  men  who  buried  Jesus.  Note  that  the 
record  so  far  mentions  these  linen  cloths  only. 
These  cloths  “the  other  disciple”  in  a  stooping 
position  saw  as  he  looked  into  the  tomb  from 
without.  Nothing  is  said  about  the  effect 
which  this  sight  had  upon  him.  We  are  not 
told  how  long  he  stooped  looking  in.  So  far, 
as  respects  the  tomb,  we  note  (1)  that  it  is 
open,  (2)  that  the  linen  cloths  are  there  with 
the  spices  a  hundred  pound  weight.  These 
would  occupy  space  enough  to  suggest  the  size 


Resurrection  Judged  Credible?  53 

of  a  man.  The  cloths  with  spices  distributed 
in  between  the  layers  would  constitute  bulk 
enough  to  attract  and  hold  the  gaze  of  a 
looker-in.  In  what  form  were  they?  Let  us 
observe  as  we  proceed. 

5.  Peter,  the  disciple  of  onset,  entered  the 
tomb,  passing  by  the  one  (the  disciple  of  in¬ 
sight)  who  stood  stooping  and  looking  in  from 
without.  What  did  he  see?  A  different  word 
for  see  is  introduced  here.  Note  it  carefully. 
Our  Revised  translation  is  “beholdeth.”  It  has 
the  meaning  sometimes  of  to  gaze  upon  inquir¬ 
ingly — to  look  with  eyes  wide  with  intent  and 
great  desire  to  understand.  Wonder  and 
amazement  may  easily  be  read  into  it  here. 
What  did  Peter  gaze  upon?  The  linen  cloths 
and  the  napkin  that  was  upon  His  head  not  ly¬ 
ing  with  the  linen  cloths  but  rolled  up  in  a  place 
by  itself . 

The  prominence  of  this  napkin  is  striking-  - 
One-tenth  of  the  whole  story  is  given  to  it  at 
first  mention.  It  must  have  some  special  sig¬ 
nificance.  What  can  it  be?  Wait  until  we 
know  what  next  occurred.  “The  other  dis¬ 
ciple”  went  into  the  tomb  “and  saw  and  be¬ 
lieved.”  What  did  he  see?  Evidently  what 


54  The  Resurrection  Body 

Peter  was  gazing  upon — the  linen  cloths  and  the 
napkin  that  was  upon  His  head  not  lying  with 
the  linen  cloths  but  rolled  up  in  a  place  by  itself. 
What  did  he  believe?  What  do  you  think  he 
believed?  If  you  are  not  clear  about  how  to 
answer,  pause  a  minute  to  note  that  we  have 
now  a  third  Greek  word  used  for  see.  It  is 
perceive.  Mary  saw  (v.  i)  the  stone  and  made 
a  wrong  inference.  “The  other  disciple’'  from 
the  outside  saw  (v.  5)  the  linen  cloths.  The 
same  word  ( /?A«ra )  is  used  there  as  in  v.  1. 
Peter  beheld  ( Oeupa  )  the  linen  cloths  and 
the  napkin  that  was  upon  His  head  not  lying 
with  the  linen  cloths  but  rolled  up  in  a  place 
by  itself.  “The  other  disciple,”  looking  upon 
the  same  objects  upon  which  Peter  was  gazing 
wonderingly  and  with  eager  desire  to  under¬ 
stand  the  meaning  of,  perceived ,  saw  through , 
understood  («$«).  A  third  Greek  word  for 
see  is  here  employed. 

What  now  do  you  think  he  believed  ?  Was  it 
not  that  Jesus  was  alive?  Is  not  this  clearly 
the  intent  of  the  author  of  this  story?  Surely, 
“according  to  the  scriptures”  the  body  of  Jesus 
came  out  of  those  grave  wrappings  in  a  super¬ 
natural  manner. 


Resurrection  Judged  Credible?  55 

The  first  seer  (Mary)  made  a  wrong  infer¬ 
ence  from  what  she  saw.  The  last  seer,  the 
disciple  of  insight,  made  a  correct  inference 
from  what  he  saw,  as  was  proved  by  subse¬ 
quent  experiences. 

This  conclusion  is  confirmed  by  the  quietness 
of  mind  which  the  closing  verse  of  this  match¬ 
less  paragraph  indicates  in  contrast  to  the  nerv¬ 
ous  excitement  with  which  it  begins. 

Pause  a  moment  to  review  the  scene  with 
special  reference  to  the  location  in  the  tomb  of 
the  grave  cloths  and  particularly  the  position 
and  form  of  the  napkin  that  was  about  the  head. 
The  body  had  been  placed  either  on  the  left  side 
or  on  the  right  side  of  the  entrance  and  length¬ 
wise.  The  head  had  therefore  four  possible  *■ 
positions,  two  near  the  door,  one  on  one  side, 
the  other  opposite;  and  two  at  the  far  end  of 
the  tomb,  one  on  each  side.  What  would  be 
the  result  of  stooping  and  looking  in  from  the 
outside?  Would  it  not  be  likely  that  only  the 
cloths  (the  bulky  part)  which  had  enveloped 
the  body  would  be  observed?  If  the  head  had 
been  toward  the  door,  no  matter  on  which  side, 
the  rolled-up  head  wrapping  would  not  likely 
be  seen  from  without.  It  would  be  hidden  by 


56  The  Resurrection  Body 

the  side  wall.  If  the  head  had  been  further¬ 
most  from  the  door,  no  matter  on  which  side, 
the  same  effect  would  result.  From  without, 
one  would  be  likely  to  observe  only  the  linen 
cloths.  This  would  be  likely  because  of  both 
the  position  and  size  of  the  napkin  that  was 
about  the  head.  From  within,  one  would  see 
both  the  linen  cloths  and  the  napkin  that  was 
.  about  the  head.  One  is  profoundly  impressed 
by  the  detailed  accuracy  of  this  account. 

Some  reader  may  wish  to  know  that  the 
original  word,  describing  the  shape  of  the 
“napkin  that  was  about  his  head,”  indi¬ 
cates  that  it  was  “rolled  up.”  The  word  is 
eVrervAiy^eW,  meaning  wrapped  or  twirled.  One 
who  has  seen  an  East  Indian  man’s  head- 
gear  will  have  an  idea  of  the  shape  in  mind. 
Only,  instead  of  the  wrapping  being  about  the 
crown  of  the  head,  it  would  be  about  the  entire 
head.  It  would  have  much  the  shape  of  a 
hollow  ball  with  an  opening  at  one  side  having 
the  diameter  of  the  neck.  Many  have  the 
mistaken  idea  that  this  “napkin”  was  folded  up 
by  Jesus  Himself  after  He  rose  from  the  dead 
and  laid  on  the  shelf  where  His  body  had  been, 
very  much  as  a  table  napkin  is  folded  and  laid 


Resurrection  Judged  Credible?  57 

beside  one’s  plate.  This  is  sometimes  cited  as 
evidence  of  composure  on  the  part  of  the  risen 
Saviour,  and  a  proof  of  leisurely  departure 
from  the  tomb!  Such  thought  is  certainly  far 
from  the  meaning  conveyed  to  the  women  and 
the  disciples  as  they  looked  upon  the  place 
where  the  Lord  lay. 

THE  EMPTY  TOMB  IN  THE  GOSPEL  BY 

MATTHEW 

“His  own  new  tomb,  which  he  had  hewn  out 
in  a  rock,”  are  the  words  used  (Matthew 
27 :  60)  to  describe  the  resting  place  of  the 
body  of  Jesus,  which  Joseph  of  Arimathaea 
had  provided.  Having  wrapped  the  body  “in  a 
clean  linen  cloth,”  he  laid  it  in  place.  He  then 
rolled  a  great  stone  to  the  door  of  the  tomb 
and  departed.  There  is  enough  difference  here 
to  indicate  independence  of  the  account  in  the 
Gospel  by  John,  but  no  difference  which  is  so 
great  as  to  constitute  departure  from  accuracy 
in  either. 

Two  of  several  women  who  observed  this 
burial  were  Mary  Magdalene  and  “the  other 
Mary.”  Other  accounts  (see  Mark  and  Luke) 


58  The  Resurrection  Body 

make  it  obvious  there  were  several  women  with 
them  (see  also  Matthew  27:  55).  These  were 
those  who  had  ministered  to  Jesus  when  in 
Galilee,  and  had  followed  Him  to  Jerusalem.  It 
is  altogether  natural  for  us  to  suppose  that  to¬ 
gether  they  planned  to  visit  the  tomb  as  early 
as  possible  after  the  Sabbath.  What  would 
have  been  more  likely?  Let  us  follow  them 
carefully. 

By  the  authority  of  Pilate,  on  request  of  the 
chief  priests  and  Pharisees,  the  tomb  had  been 
sealed  and  a  guard  had  been  furnished  to  pre¬ 
vent  robbery.  These  enemies  remembered  the 
statement  that  Jesus  had  made  about  rising 
from  the  dead  after  three  days.  Strange  that 
the  disciples  had  forgotten?  Yes  and  no. 
There  is  the  profoundest  psychology  here. 
Real  life  presents  the  most  unexpected  con¬ 
traries.  Work  it  out  sometime  for  yourself. 
How  can  we  believe  this  story  to  be  a  fabrica¬ 
tion?  Who  would  weave  out  of  imagination 
such  a  combination  of  ideas  ? 

The  account  is  as  follows  (Matthew  28:1-8)  : 

“Now  late  on  the  Sabbath  day,  as  it  began 
to  dawn  toward  the  first  day  of  the  week,  came 
Mary  Magdalene  and  the  other  Mary  to  see 


Resurrection  Judged  Credible?  59 

the  sepulchre.  And  behold,  there  was  a  great 
earthquake;  for  an  angel  of  the  Lord  de¬ 
scended  from  Heaven,  and  came  and  rolled 
away  the  stone,  and  sat  upon  it.  His  appear¬ 
ance  was  as  lightning,  and  his  raiment  white  as 
snow;  and  for  fear  of  him  the  watchers  did 
quake,  and  became  as  dead  men.  And  the  angel 
answered  and  said  unto  the  women,  Fear  not 
ye;  for  I  know  that  ye  seek  Jesus,  who  hath 
been  crucified.  He  is  not  here ;  for  he  is  risen, 
even  as  he  said.  Come,  see  the  place  where  the 
Lord  lay.  And  go  quickly,  and  tell  his  dis¬ 
ciples,  He  is  risen  from  the  dead;  and  lo,  he 
goeth  before  you  into  Galilee ;  there  shall  ye  see 
him;  lo,  I  have  told  you.  And  they  departed 
quickly  from  the  tomb  with  fear  and  great  joy, 
and  ran  to  bring  his  disciples  word.” 

Keep  in  mind  the  presence  of  the  guards  as 
we  proceed.  It  is  daybreak  on  Easter  morning. 
The'  group  of  women  who  had  watched  the 
burial  approach  the  tomb.  It  is  sealed.  As 
they  draw  near,  there  is  an  earthquake.  All 
are  greatly  frightened.  Their  fear  is  increased 
by  the  sudden  opening  of  the  tomb.  An  angel 
rolls  the  stone  off  to  the  side  and  sits  upon  it. 
His  appearance  is  like  lightning  and  his  raiment 
as  white  as  snow. 

The  guards  fall  to  the  ground  as  dead  men. 


60  The  Resurrection  Body 

In  great  excitement  Mary  Magdalene,  her  at¬ 
tention  being  concentrated  upon  the  open  door 
of  the  tomb,  suddenly  turns  and  runs  to  bring 
the  disciples  word.  She  reported  to  Peter  and 
John  in  the  words :  “They  have  taken  away  the 
Lord  out  of  the  tomb,  and  we  know  not  where 
they  have  laid  him”  (John  20:  2). 

The  other  women  of  the  group  hear  the  angel 
say:  Do  not  be  afraid.  I  know  that  you  seek 
Jesus.  He  is  not  here.  He  is  risen.  Come,  see 
the  place  where  the  Lord  lay. 

What  is  here  involved  of  interest  on  the  ques¬ 
tion  of  the  resurrection  body?  Two  things 
especially.  First,  that  the  resurrection  body 
left  the  tomb  before  the  stone  was  rolled  away! 
It  was  not  necessary  that  the  door  be  opened 
before  the  Lord  of  Life  could  come  forth  from 
the  grave.  It  was  impossible  to  imprison  His 
body  of  glory.  Bindings  of  head,  hand  and 
foot,  walls,  the  seals,  guards,  a  great  stone  at 
the  door — these  were  nothing  to  Him  who  had 
been  raised  in  power.  The  stone  was  rolled 
away  not  to  let  the  Saviour  out,  but  rather  to 
let  the  women  and  the  disciples  in!  Why 
enter?  For  evidence  therein  of  the  fact  of 
resurrection.  The  angel  bade  them  enter,  call- 


Resurrection  Judged  Credible?  61 

ing  especial  attention  to  the  place  where  the 
Lord  lay.  What  was  on  that  stone  shelf  to 
observe?  The  grave  wrappings  were  there,  in 
such  form,  as  we  have  learned,  as  to  indicate 
the,  departure  of  the  body  therefrom  without 
disturbing  them.  They  lay  there  mutely  but 
conclusively  testifying  to  the  fact  that  the  body 
had  not  been  violently  removed,  but  rather  of 
its  own  ^volition  had  leaped  through  and  out  of 
the  cerements  and  through  the  walls  into  the 
fresh  air  of  the  new  Easter  morning.  This  is 
the  only  appropriate  manner  of  action  for  the 
Prince  of  Life  in  the  initial  instant  of  entrance 
into  victory  over  death. 

This  interpretation  is  consistent  with  an  im¬ 
portant  consideration  respecting  the  guards  in 
relation  to  the  approaching  testing  time  about 
the  preaching  of  the  resurrection.  There  is 
thus  no  period  of  time,  not  even  the  shortest, 
after  the  tomb  is  opened,  when  witnesses  repre¬ 
senting  both  enemies  and  friends  are  not  pres¬ 
ent  to  verify  the  facts.  The  guards  on  the  one 
hand  and  the  women  on  the  other,  both  witness 
the  opening  of  the  grave.  No  room  is  left  for 
controversy  about  what  happened  or  concern¬ 
ing  the  contents  of  the  tomb.  The  body  was 


62  The  Resurrection  Body 

there  when  the  tomb  was  sealed.  It  was  not 
there  when  the  seal  was  broken.  The  linen 
cloths  were  there  and  spoke  their  own  message, 
confirming  the  word  of  the  angel. 

Certainly  there  was  continuous  provision 
during  those  stirring,  exciting  hours  against 
misrepresentation  of  the  truth.  It  is  gratifying 
to  discover  that  it  was  this  company  of  devoted 
ministering  women  from  Galilee  who  were  the 
first  to  hear  the  angel  say:  “He  is  risen,”  and 
to  receive  the  invitation  to  verify  his  statement 
by  inspection  of  the  tomb.  Favored  Galilee 
of  the  Gentiles !  To  thee  in  darkness  came  the 
light  of  life.  Honored  handmaids  of  the  Lord 
of  Glory !  We  hail  you  among  the  blessed,  and 
follow  the  story  of  that  first  Easter  with  eager 
interest. 

THE  EMPTY  TOMB  IN  THE  GOSPELS  BY  MARK 

AND  LUKE 

Eager  desire  is  present  to  indicate  points  of 
harmony  in  these  two  accounts  which  go  a  long 
way  toward  assurance  that  the  records  are  not 
only  reliable,  but  also  accurate  when  each  is  re¬ 
garded  from  its  own  angle  of  vision,  and  its 


Resurrection  Judged  Credible?  63 

particular  objective  in  narration.  But  limited 
space  requires  the  greatest  brevity.  One  point 
only  therefore  is  noted.  Both  of  these  accounts 
refer  to  the  inside  of  the  tomb  and  particularly 
to  the  place  where  the  body  had  been  laid.  In 
Mark  the  angel  specifically  directs  attention  to 
“the  place  where  they  laid  him.”  In  the  Luke 
account,  we  read :  “They  entered  in  and  found 
not  the  body.  .  .  .  But  Peter  arose,  and  ran 
unto  the  tomb,  and  stooping  and  looking  in,  he 
seeth  the  linen  cloths  by  themselves.”  The 
women  were  “perplexed”  and  Peter  “won¬ 
dered”  at  what  was  seen.  Thus  all  four  evan¬ 
gelists  recognize  the  significance  of  the  evi¬ 
dence  of  resurrection  presented  within  the  * 
tomb. 

Suggestion:  Study  carefully  this  company  of 
women  from  Galilee,  who  are  present  on  the 
evening  of  the  crucifixion  and  on  the  morning 
of  the  resurrection.  It  is  confidently  believed 
that  as  they  approached  the  tomb  they  saw  it 
opened;  as  they  entered  the  tomb  they  wit¬ 
nessed  evidence  which  the  grave  cloths  af¬ 
forded,  that  the  body  had  not  been  violently 
removed.  On  the  contrary,  they  were  face  to 
face  with  proof  that  the  body  had  supernatu- 


64  The  Resurrection  Body 

.  rally  left  the  winding  sheets  intact.  Even  the 
head  roll  remained  in  its  original  shape.  It  had 
only  fallen  back  in  a  place  by  itself  when  re¬ 
leased  by  the  body  of  Jesus  at  the  instant  of  its 
change  from  a  dead  body  to  the  resurrection 
body.  Then  on  their  way  from  the  tomb,  Jesus 
himself  met  them  and  said,  All  hail!  Again 
we  are  constrained  to  exclaim :  Blessed  among 
women,  O  early  rising  company  from  Galilee! 
Your  eyes  have  seen  in  succession  what  no 
other  human  eyes  have  beheld — the  new  tomb, 
the  closed  tomb,  the  sealed  tomb,  the  tomb 
opened,  the  open  tomb,  within  the  open  tomb. 
Your  testimony  concerning  it  brings  comfort 
to  many  even  in  this  time  remote  from  your 
day. 

THE  APPEARANCES 

A  Condensed  Survey 

No  particulars  are  recorded  concerning  the 
appearance  of  our  Lord  to  James  and  Peter 
individually.  Paul  names  them  both  (in 
I  Corinthians,  fifteenth)  as  having  been 
favored  as  individuals.  Paul’s  own  experi¬ 
ence  is  related  in  the  book  of  the  Acts.  The 


Resurrection  Judged  Credible?  65 

first  chapter  of  Paul’s  Epistle  to  the  Galatians 
is  suggestive  here.  We  wonder  what  he,  Peter 
and  James  talked  about  during  those  two 
weeks  spent  together  at  Jerusalem.  We  may 
be  reasonably  sure  that  they  visited  the  tomb 
together  and  that  Paul  eagerly  questioned  them 
both  concerning  their  personal  experience  with 
the  risen  Lord. 

EASTER  MORNING 

Our  Lord  appeared  to  Mary  in  the  garden. 
Read  the  account  in  John,  twentieth  chapter. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  believe,  as  some  assert, 
that  Jesus  was  dressed  in  the  garb  of  a 
gardener.  This  may  have  been  the  case,  for 
in  His  new  mode  of  existence  He  was  capable 
not  only  of  appearing  and  disappearing,  but 
also  of  appearing  in  different  forms.  Mary 
was  weeping.  Her  tears  may  have  partially 
blinded  her  eyes.  Moreover,  she  was  not  ex¬ 
pecting  to  see  the  Lord  and  she  was  painfully 
preoccupied.  We  often  have  seen  intimate 
friends  whom  in  fact  we  have  not  seen.  Our 
eyes  have  been  holden  by  thought.  Mary’s  ac¬ 
tion  on  recognition  of  her  Lord  was  met  by  a 


66  The  Resurrection  Body 

word  of  Jesus  which  is  usually  given  a  strained 
and  unnatural  interpretation.  Why  not  make 
the  statement,  “Take  not  hold  on  me,  for  I  have 
not  yet  ascended  unto  the  Father,”  fit  into  what 
follows,  and  understand  it  to  mean  merely  this : 
Do  not  try  to  detain  Me  here,  Mary,  in  the  fear 
that  you  will  never  see  Me  again.  I  am  not 
immediately  ascending  to  My  Father.  You 
will  see  Me  again.  Do  not  remain  here  longer 
now,  but  go  unto  My  brethren,  and  say  to 
them,  I  ascend  unto  My  Father  and  your 
Father,  and  My  God  and  your  God.  This  is 
in  perfect  harmony  with  other  directions  given 
to  the  disciples  to  meet  the  Lord  in  Galilee. 

TOWARDS  EASTER  EVENING 

The  story  of  the  two  on  the  way  to  Emmaus 
may  be  allowed  here  to  furnish  only  two  of 
many  most  interesting  observations.  These 
men,  slow  of  heart  to  believe  the  Easter  mes¬ 
sage,  although  on  their  own  testimony  they  had 
heard  that  He  was  alive,  became  men  of  the 
burning  heart  as  Jesus  Himself  opened  to  them 
the  Scriptures  concerning  Himself.  The  body 
of  the  resurrection,  according  to  this  account, 


Resurrection  Judged  Credible?  67 

was  capable  of  appearing  in  such  fashion  as  to 
escape  identification  for  the  time  being;  to  make 
itself  recognizable  at  will,  and  at  will  to  vanish 
out  of  sight ! 


THE  EVENING  OF  EASTER 

The  appearance  to  the  ten  (John  20:  19-23) 
is  significant  for  our  present  purpose  in  one 
respect  especially.  The  record  indicates  that 
the  doors  were  securely  fastened.  The  original 
language  is  significantly  strong  here.  The  dis¬ 
ciples  feared  the  Jews,  and  with  special  care 
had  made  fast  the  door.  This  fact  adds  in¬ 
terest  to  the  statement  that  Jesus  “came  and 
stood  in  the  midst  and  said:  Peace  be  unto 
you.”  He  proved  to  them  that  the  body  of  the 
resurrection  was  the  same  body  in  a  real  sense 
by  showing  them  His  hands  and  His  side.  He 
proved  to  them  that  it  was  different  in  a  real 
sense  by  coming  into  the  room  in  a  supernatural 
manner. 


A  WEEK  LATER  • 

The  doors  were  bolted  a  second  time. 
Thomas  was  present  with  the  ten.  Again  Jesus 


68  The  Resurrection  Body 

comes  into  the  room  in  His  resurrection  body. 
It  is  consequently  different  from  His  body 
before  His  death.  Yet  it  is  identifiable  as  the 
same,  for  the  wounds  are  there  both  in  His 
hands  and  feet  and  also  in  His  side. 

The  wounds  of  our  Lord  in  His  new  body, 
which  remain  forever  to  tell  the  story  of  re¬ 
demption  procured  by  the  sacrifice  of  life,  sug¬ 
gest  the  appropriateness  here  of  the  following 
striking,  challenging  statement  of  the  social  sig¬ 
nificance  of  the  body. 

“The  Christian  doctrine  of  the  resurrection 
gives  the  most  important  emphasis  to  the  social 
significance  of  the  body.  We  need  to  look  more 
closely  at  the  structural  meaning  of  the  saint’s 
glorified  body.  It  is,  on  the  one  hand,  a  spir¬ 
itual  repetition  of  the  body  of  his  temporal 
probation.  Thus  comes  the  accentuation  of  the 
distinct  person  himself.  Never  is  he  to  lose 
connection  with  his  own  past.  Not  only  by 
memory,  but  by  his  very  objective  life  itself, 
he  is  to  be  reminded  that  he  is  the  same  man 
\  who  lived  that  life  on  earth.  Most  seriously  I 
urge  you  to  work  out  the  wholesomeness  of  this 
thought,  that  the  line  of  identity  is  everlastingly 
sacred,  that  no  man,  in  all  the  solemn  eternities, 
can  begin  all  over  again. 

“Not  only  so,  but  this  repetition  of  the 
earthly  body  is  a  perpetual  objective  insistence 


Resurrection  Judged  Credible?  69 

upon  the  fact  that  every  redeemed  man  once 
belonged  to  that  old  Adamic  race  which  was 
broken  up  by  death  and  because  of  sin.  Thus, 
the  entire  social  life  of  the  new  race  will  ever 
suggest  the  sad  history  of  the  old  race.  No* 
saint  can  ever  make  a  gesture,  or  look  into  the 
face  of  another  saint,  without  projecting  large 
hints  of  the  story  of  a  costly  redemption.  In¬ 
deed,  the  whole  objective  life  of  the  saints  in 
glory  is  so  planned  that  it  has  memorial  force, 
like  a  great  Sacrament.”  (Curtis*  The  Chris¬ 
tian  Faith.') 


“driving  a  stake” 

Our  thesis  is  that  the  Easter  faith  and  the  ' 
Easter  message  are  inseparable.  They  stand 
together  or  they  fall  together.  We  believe 
there  is  good  reason  for  accepting  the  Easter 
message  as  true,  and  in  consequence  exercising 
the  Easter  faith. 

Let  the  nature  of  the  message  be  clearly  ap¬ 
prehended.  We  have  had  it  defined  by  Pro¬ 
fessor  Harnack  who  rejects  it.  It  is  the  empty 
tomb  together  with  the  appearances  of  Jesus 
in  the  body  of  the  resurrection  according  to  the 
Scriptures. 

A  certain  very  successful  Bible  class  teacher 


70  The  Resurrection  Body 

became  well  known  and  popular  because  of  his 
method  of  “driving  a  stake”  in  each  lesson.  By 
this  is  meant  that  he  seized  upon  a  great  fact 
or  truth  each  time  and  held  to  it,  driving  it 
home  in  the  minds  of  the  members  of  the  class, 
and  relating  up  to  it  every  other  part  of  the 
lesson. 

Let  us  follow  his  example  and  “drive  a  stake” 
in  our  study  of  the  resurrection.  The  fact  to 
begin  with,  to  stay  with,  to  go  from,  to  return 
to,  to  be  always  in  sight  of,  and  in  the  light 
of  which  to  decide,  is  the  fact  that  the  first 
Christian  community  was  convinced  that  Jesus 
Christ  was  alive  from  the  dead  in  His  resur¬ 
rection  body.  The  fact  of  belief  in  the  resur¬ 
rection  by  the  first  generation  of  Christians 
(and  by  resurrection  according  to  the  Scrip¬ 
tures  is  always  meant  the  reunited  spirit  and 
body,  the  body  being  both  the  same  and  differ¬ 
ent,  not  a  resuscitated  body  but  a  resurrected 
body) — the  fact  of  belief  in  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  by  the  early  Christians  is  almost  the  most 
obtrusive  feature  of  the  New  Testament.  Cer¬ 
tainly  it  is  regarded  as  the  most  important  fact 
there  recorded.  It  is  the  cardinal  doctrine  there 


Resurrection  Judged  Credible4?  71 

found.  The  four  Gospels  reach  their  climax  in 
the  announcement  of  it  and  the  citation  of  the 
evidence  of  it.  The  book  of  the  Acts  teems  with 
testimony  to  the  same  effect.  The  Epistles  are 
full  of  resurrection  assurances,  and  the  Apoca¬ 
lypse  everywhere  records  the  conviction  that 
He  who  was  dead  is  alive  forevermore. 

The  problem  of  the  rejectors  of  the  message 
is  to  account  adequately  for  this  fact  of  belief 
on  the  part  of  the  first  generation  of  Chris¬ 
tians — those  living,  say,  from  30  to  70  a.d, 
Charles  Reade  remarks  that  “to  accept  an  in¬ 
adequate  explanation  of  an  undeniable  fact  is  * 
credulity  in  one  of  its  worst  forms.”  We 
agree  with  this  principle. 

This  fact  of  the  belief  in  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  by  the  first  Christian  community  is  the 
more  remarkable  because  of  certain  accom¬ 
panying  facts.  It  is  the  chief  fact  of  a  heap  of 
facts.  Consider  that  the  resurrection,  as  this 
first  group  believed  it,  was  not  anticipated.  ' 
Jesus  died  on  the  cross,  and  His  disciples  had 
given  up  hope.  Nor  was  the  resurrection  be¬ 
lieved  when  first  reported.  The  story  appeared 
to  them  as  an  idle  tale.  “Some  doubted”  even 


72  The  Resurrection  Body 

after  they  saw  Him.  The  records  give  us  the 
impression  that  the  people  of  those  times  were 
quite  cautious  about  accepting  as  true  reports 
of  great  happenings,  especially  of  this  particu¬ 
lar  event  in  question.  There  were  bitter  op- 

'  ponents.  Those  who  believed  suffered  for  their 
belief.  Some  of  them  went  to  death  on  account 
of  it.  All  were  enthusiastic  about  it  and  sought 
successfully  to  persuade  others  to  believe  it. 

•  The  company  rapidly  increased  in  size.  Many 
believed.  Among  them  were  unlikely  ones. 
Priests,  the  most  difficult  to  persuade,  are 
mentioned  as  having  become  members  of  the 

I 

Church  in  large  numbers.  Then  there  is  Paul. 
He  was  not  expecting  the  resurrection.  He  re¬ 
jected  it.  He  became  convinced  of  it.  He  was 
revolutionized  by  it.  He  preached  it.  He  suf¬ 
fered  for  it  and  died  a  martyr  to  it.  His  life 
demonstrated  the  power  of  it.  He  insisted  that 
he  and  his  fellow  Apostles  were  first-class  liars 
or  the  resurrection  was  true.  Paul  was  a  first 
generation  Christian.  He  must  have  had  a 
sufficient  basis  for  his  belief.  Will  the  theory 
of  fancy,  or  the  theory  of  fraud,  or  the  phan¬ 
tom  theory,  explain  it  ? 


Resurrection  Judged  Credible?  73 

KEEP  DRIVING  THE  STAKE 

This  pivotal  fact  of  belief  that  Jesus  rose 
from  the  dead,  on  the  part  of  the  first  genera¬ 
tion  of  Christians  is  undisputed. 

Strauss  says :  “Only  this  much  need  we  ac¬ 
knowledge,  that  the  Apostles  firmly  believed 
that  Jesus  had  risen.”  He  also  says:  “With¬ 
out  the  faith  of  the  Apostles  in  the  resurrection 
of  Jesus,  the  Church  would  never  have  been 
born.” 

Schenkel,  a  most  scholarly  rationalist,  says: 
“It  is  an  indisputable  fact  that  on  the  early 
morning  of  the  first  day  of  the  week  following 
the  crucifixion,  the  grave  of  Jesus  was  found 
empty.  It  is  a  second  fact  that  the  disciples  * 
and  other  members  of  the  Apostolic  Commun¬ 
ion  were  convinced  that  Jesus  was  seen  after 
the  crucifixion — we  will  admit  this;  it  is  all  we 
have  to  admit.” 

Dr.  Schmiedel  agrees  with  Strauss  and 
Schenkel.  He  starts  with  the  one  fact  of  which  • 
he  is  sure,  that  the  followers  of  Jesus  believed 
that  they  had  seen  Him.  He  even  believes  that 
some  of  the  disciples  believed  they  saw  and  felt 


74  The  Resurrection  Body 

in  reality  the  wounds  which  Jesus  received  on 
the  cross. 

The  testing  sentence  of  Charles  Reade  is  cer¬ 
tainly  in  place  here.  “To  accept  an  inadequate 
explanation  of  an  undeniable  fact  is  credulity 
in  one  of  its  worst  forms.”  We  repeat: 

What  is  the  undeniable  fact?  It  is  that  the 
first  Christian  community — the  believers  from 
30  a.d.  to  70  a.d.  were  convinced  that  Jesus 

WAS  ALIVE  FROM  THE  DEAD. 

Dr.  Fairbairn  truly  says :  “We  reach  the  con¬ 
clusion  that  on  the  terms  fixed  and  defined  by 
Modern  Criticism,  there  is,  on  the  supposition 
that  Christ  did  not  rise,  no  sufficient  explana¬ 
tion  of  the  origin  of  our  belief.  It  is  impossible 
to  account  for  it  and  save  the  honesty  and 
rationality  of  the  men.” 

Dr.  James  Orr  agrees  also  by  saying:  “The 
fulcrum  is  still  wanting  by  which  this  funda¬ 
mental  conviction  of  the  earliest  Christian  com¬ 
munity  can  be  lifted  from  its  place.” 

Professor  T.  R.  Glover,  of  St.  John’s  Col¬ 
lege,  Cambridge,  in  an  article  in  the  Construc¬ 
tive  Quarterly,  on  Immortality  and  the  Person 
of  Christ,  uses  the  figure  of  a  tunnel  to  describe 


Resurrection  Judged  Credible?  75 

a  certain  gap  in  our  knowledge  of  the  Church’s 
history.  He  calls  our  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  group  of  men  we  meet  in  the  Epistles  and 
the  Acts  are  the  same  we  meet  in  the  Gospels, 
but  they  are  greatly  changed.  The  train  passed  • 
through  a  tunnel.  We  saw  it  before  it  entered 
and  after  it  left.  The  same  people  were  in  it 
before  and  after;  but  something  happened  in 
the  tunnel.  We  must,  if  we  are  to  remain 
honest,  admit  that  something  very  exceptional 
and  very  signal  happened,  for  it  has  changed 
the  history  of  the  world. 

BASES  OF  REJECTION 

We  maintain  that  those  who  deny  the  fact  of 
the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  as  reported  in 
the  Scriptures,  as  well  as  those  who  in  the  pres¬ 
ent  time  do  so,  are  without  justifiable  grounds  * 
for  such  denial. 

One  of  the  best  short  discussions  of  the 
grounds  for  accepting  the  resurrection  as  a  fact 
is  found  in  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  Dr.  A.  M. 
Fairbairn’s  Studies  in  the  Life  of  Christ.  He 
mentions  four  explanations  which  have  been 


76  The  Resurrection  Body 

offered  of  belief  in  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
on  the  part  of  the  first  Christian  community. 
To  aid  the  memory  they  may  be  called : 

The  Theory  of  Fancy, 

The  Theory  of  Fraud, 

The  Theory  of  Phantom, 

The  Theory  of  Fact. 

The  Theory  of  Fancy,  more  commonly 
known  as  the  Swoon  Theory,  is  that  actual 
death  did  not  occur;  that  Jesus  by  some  un¬ 
explained  means  appeared  to  His  disciples 
after  He  was  supposed  to  have  died,  and  that 
from  this  arose  the  report  that  He  was  risen 
from  the  dead.  This  theory  was  made  prom¬ 
inent  by  the  adherence  of  Schleiermacher. 
Paulus  also  was  an  exponent  of  it.  ^trauss, 
the  noted  rationalist,  to  the  satisfaction  of 
most  people,  demolished  the  theory  by  his  well- 
known  passage  from  which  I  quote  the  follow¬ 
ing: 

“A  half-dead  man,  crawling  about,  sickly,  in 
need  of  a  physician  and  a  nurse,  could  never 
have  made  upon  the  disciples  the  impression  of 
his  being  the  Lord  of  life,  nor  changed  their 
mourning  into  exultation.” 


Resurrection  Judged  Credible?  77 

It  is  very  interesting  to  observe  how  the 
Gospel  narratives  emphasize  the  fact  of  the 
real  death  of  Jesus.  It  would  almost  seem 
that  the  attempt  to  account  for  the  belief  by 
the  Swoon  theory  was  anticipated  by  the 
guiding  Spirit  of  God  when  the  records  were 
made.  ^ 

The  Theory  of  Fraud,  which  is  to  the  effect 
that  the  disciples  stole  away  the  body  by  night 
and  gave  out  the  report  of  the  resurrection,  has 
been  abandoned  as  absurd.  It  is  mentioned  in 
the  twenty-eighth  chapter  of  the  Gospel  by  Mat¬ 
thew.  Variations  on  this,  affording  illustra¬ 
tions  of  the  strange  extremes  to  which  credulity 
will  go  for  the  purpose  of  explaining  away  facts 
which  do  not  fit  theory,  are  seen  in  Oscar 
Holtzman’s  suggestion  that  Joseph  on  reflection 
removed  the  body  to  another  tomb,  and  Kirsopp 
Lake’s  idea  that  the  women  went  to  the  wrong 
tomb  and  a  young  man  who  happened  to  be  near 
said  to  them :  “Over  there,  not  here !”  In  this 
connection,  we  recall  that  sentence  of  Carlyle : 
“O  man,  great  is  thy  infidel  faith!”  We  recall 
also  the  words  of  Sir  Robertson  Nicoll:  “It  is 
easier  to  believe  in  the  supernatural  than  in  the 
impossible.” 


X 


78  The  Resurrection  Body 

There  remain  the  two  theories — the  Phan¬ 
tom  Theory  and  that  of  Fact.  The  Phantom 
Theory  in  one  or  another  of  its  forms  is  the 
favorite  and  last  resort  of  rejectors  of  the 
fact. 

The  theory  of  Keim,  who  invented  the  ex¬ 
pression  “Telegram  from  heaven”  is  a  varia¬ 
tion  of  the  Phantom  Theory.  It  is  to  the  effect 
that  when  the  disciples  believed  that  they  had 
seen  Jesus,  they  did  not  really  see  Him,  but  only 
a  visionary  image.  “The  visionary  image,” 
says  one  in  reviewing  Keim’s  theory,  “was  pro¬ 
duced  in  their  souls  immediately  by  God,  in 
order  that  they  might  be  assured  that  Jesus  was 
risen.”  Holders  of  this  theory  of  course  be¬ 
lieve  that  the  body  of  Jesus  remained  in  the 
tomb. 

Dr.  Schmiedel  in  his  article  on  the  Resurrec¬ 
tion  and  Ascension  in  the  Encyclopedia  Biblia 
says :  “Any  attempted  explanation  presupposes 
an  insight  into  the  subjective  experiences  that 
can  perhaps  never  be  completely  attained;  it 
demands,  therefore,  the  greatest  caution.  It 
cannot,  however,  be  left  unattempted.  .  .  .  For 
all  that  has  been  said  in  the  foregoing  para¬ 
graphs,  the  most  that  can  be  claimed  is  that  it 


Resurrection  Judged  Credible?  79 

proves  the  possibility — the  probability  if  you 
will — of  an  explanation  from  subjective  vis¬ 
ions.” 

The  difficulties  manifestly  attending  such  an 
explanation  are  great.  The  explanation  pre¬ 
sents  greater  difficulties  than  it  removes.  They 
have  led  the  rejectors  of  the  fact  of  the  resur¬ 
rection  to  attempt  generally  no  explanation  at 
all,  but  to  take  refuge  in  the  general  assump¬ 
tion  of  the  impossibility  of  the  supernatural. 


Chapter  V:  The  Resurrection  and  the 

Power  of  God 


[On  our  present  view ,  the  energy  of  the  con¬ 
stitution  of  the  ether  is  incredibly  and  porten¬ 
tously  great ,  every  cubic  millimeter  of  space 
possessing  what ,  if  it  were  matter ,  would  be  a 
mass  of  a  thousand  tons  and  an  energy  equiva¬ 
lent  to  the  output  of  a  million  horsepower  sta¬ 
tion  for  forty  million  years . 

— Sir  Oliver  Lodge. 

The  fifth  part  of  an  American  five -cent  piece, 
if  we  could  entirely  disassociate  it  in  one  second, 
would  give  an  energy  equal  to  six  milliards, 
eight  hundred  million  horsepower,  the  energy 
of  a  moving  body  being  equal  to  half  the  prod¬ 
uct  of  its  mass  by  the  square  of  its  velocity. 

— Gustav  Le  Bon. 


Chapter  V:  The  Resurrection 
and  the  Power  of  God 


The  resurrection  of  Jesus  is  the  New  Testa- * 
ment  unit  of  power.  Back  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  are  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  (our  Old 
Testament),  with  their  tremendous  emphasis 
on  the  power  of  God.  He  is  the  Almighty 
Creator.  He  never  grows  weary.  For  Him 
nothing  is  impossible.  In  the  very  initial  stage 
of  the  history  of  the  chosen  people,  the  father 
of  the  race  was  asked,  “Is  anything  too  hard 
for  Jehovah  ?”  Interesting  enough,  the  oc¬ 
casion  was  one  when  life  from  the  dead  was 
in  question. 

The  mighty  hand  of  God  was  revealed  in  the 
overthrow  of  Pharaoh,  and  the  deliverance  of 
Israel  from  the  land  of  Egypt.  In  song  the 
Redeemer  from  bondage  was  praised  thus : 

“Who  is  like  unto  thee,  O  Jehovah,  among  the 
gods? 

Who  is  like  unto  thee,  glorious  in  holiness, 

Fearful  in  praises,  doing  wonders?” 

83 


84  The  Resurrection  Body 

In  the  realm  of  experience,  it  may  be  said 
that  the  Exodus  was  the  Old  Testament  unit  of 
God’s  power,  or  perhaps  better,  the  measure  of 
v  God’s  power.  It  is  frequently  referred  to  as  an 
indication  of  what  He  could  do. 

Perhaps  the  book  of  Job  magnifies  God’s 
power  as  much  as  any  other  part  of  the  Old 
Testament.  Here,  as  in  other  portions,  obser¬ 
vation  of  the  forces  of  nature  led  to  recogni¬ 
tion  of  the  omnipotence  of  the  Creator  and  Pre¬ 
server  of  the  universe.  A  typical  expression 
of  this  is  found  in  Job,  twenty-sixth  chapter, 
where  after  a  graphic  description  of  the  power 
of  God  as  displayed  in  nature,  the  writer 
says: 

“Lo,  these  are  but  the  outskirts  of  his  ways: 

And  how  small  a  whisper  do  we  hear  of  him ! 

But  the  thunder  of  his  mighty  power  who  can 
understand?” 

The  Psalms  are  full  of  instruction  about  the 
person  and  nature  of  God.  DeWitt,  in  the 
Introduction  to  A  New  Translation  of  the 
Psalms ,  asserts  that  they  are  fuller  of  instruc¬ 
tion  about  God  than  even  the  New  Testament, 
and  that  the  New  Testament  assumes  this  pre- 


Resurrection  and  Power  of  God  85 


vious  revelation  as  not  needing  to  be  repeated. 
Here  is  one  selection, 

“God  hath  spoken  once, 

Twice  have  I  heard  this, 

That  power  belongeth  unto  God.” 

(Psalm  62:  11.) 

The  prophets  are  unsurpassed  in  the  consid¬ 
eration  which  they  give  to  the  power  of  God. 
For  example,  the  great  fortieth  chapter  of 
Isaiah,  having  comfort  as  its  objective,  dwells 
on  the  wisdom,  tenderness  and  power  of  God. 
It  says,  in  part:  “Jehovah  will  come  as  a 
mighty  one.  Who  hath  meted  out  heaven  with 
the  span?  .  .  .  and  weighed  the  mountains  in 
scales?  Behold  the  nations  are  as  a  drop  of 
a  bucket  .  .  .  behold  he  taketh  up  the  isles  as 
a  very  little  thing.”  Referring  to  the  stars  of 
heaven,  he  says,  “Lift  up  your  eyes  on  high, 
and  see  who  created  these,  that  bringeth  out 
their  host  by  number;  he  calleth  them  all  by 
name;  by  the  greatness  of  his  might,  and  for 
that  he  is  strong  in  power,  not  one  is  lacking.” 

Referring  to  the  resurrection,  our  Lord  said 
to  the  Sadducees,  “Ye  do  err,  not  knowing  the 
scriptures,  nor  the  power  of  God.”  Certainly 


86  The  Resurrection  Body 

they  did  not  know  their  Scriptures  about  God’s 
power  or  they  would  not  have  questioned  His 
ability  to  raise  the  dead.  They  evidently  also 
had  little  personal  experience  of  God’s  power, 
else  they  would  have  been  more  receptive  of  His 
Son  and  His  message.  Who  but  Sadducees  will 
raise  a  question  about  the  God  of  the  Bible 
being  equal  to  the  problem  of  Easter  ? 

The  Apostle  Paul  uses  four  different  words 
in  one  verse  to  indicate  the  activity  and  accom¬ 
plishment  of  God  Almighty,  and  all  of  them 
with  respect  to  Easter.  The  verse  is  the  nine¬ 
teenth  of  the  first  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Ephesians.  Three  expressions  are  found  in  the 
prayer  of  which  this  verse  is  a  part.  They  are : 
“His  calling,”  “his  inheritance,”  “his  power.” 
This  great  Christian  and  leader  of  men  wishes 
for  his  friends  and  all  Christian  believers  that 
they  may  have  the  eyes  of  their  heart  opened 
to  know  “what  is  the  exceeding  greatness  of 
his  power  [dynamite]  to  us-ward  who  believe, 
according  to  that  working  *  [energy]  of  the 
strength  of  his  might  which  he  wrought  [exer¬ 
cised]  in  Christ  when  he  raised  him  from  the 
dead  and  set  him  at  his  own  right  hand.”  No 

*  Thayer  says  that  this  word  is  in  the  New  Testament  used 
only  of  superhuman  power. 


Resurrection  and  Power  of  God  87 

portion  of  the  Bible  of  equal  length  has  such 
a  heaping  together  of  words  for  power.  Let 
us  never  forget  it.  God  is  able.  He  giveth  it 
a  body. 

The  reader  is  earnestly  advised  to  pursue 
the  study  of  the  verses  in  Ephesians  following 
the  one  quoted  above.  Ignore  the  division  of 
chapters,  and  note  how  the  power  of  God  mani¬ 
fested  in  the  resurrection  of  Christ  is  followed 
by  an  exhibition  of  that  same  power  in  the 
case  of  believers  who  are  referred  to  in  the  sec¬ 
ond  chapter.  The  parallel  is  striking.  Christ 
was  raised  and  exalted  to  the  right  hand  of 
God  in  the  heavenly  places  (Ephesians  i :  20). 
Believers  are  made  alive  together  with  Christ 
and  raised  up  with  Him  and  made  to  sit  with 
Him  in  the  heavenly  places  (Ephesians  2 :  5,  6). 
Resurrection  and  ascension  are  both  here  for 
both  Christ  and  believers.  They  rise  from  the 
dead  and  go  with  Him  into  the  heavenlies.  The 
entire  programme  of  redemption,  as  here,  is 
continually  in  Paul’s  mind.  He  looks  forward 
to  the  ages  to  come  (2:7)  and  lives  in  the 
presence  of  the  revelation  of  the  exceeding 
riches  to  come,  of  God’s  grace  in  His  kindness 
toward  us  in  Christ  Jesus. 


88  The  Resurrection  Body 

The  words  of  Dr.  David  Cairns,  quoted  in 
the  foreword,  may  fittingly  be  used  again  as 
we  bring  this  brief  study  to  a  close.  “In  belief 
in  the  resurrection  is  the  spring  of  that  new 
life  of  faith  of  which  to-day  the  Church  stands 
in  so  much  need.”  Shall  we  not  seek  this  spring 
whose  refreshment  not  only  we  ourselves  per¬ 
sonally  so  sorely  need,  but  also  the  multitudes 
who  spend  their  earnings  for  that  which  satis¬ 
fies  not? 

“Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to 
the  waters,  and  he  that  hath  no  money;  come 
ye,  buy,  and  eat ;  yea,  come,  buy  wine  and  milk 
without  money  and  without  price.”  Our 
Saviour's  Spirit  beforehand  moved  the  prophet 
to  call  thus  like  an  auctioneer.  Were  ever  such 
valuable  holdings  thus  offered  ?  In  the  fulness 
of  time  in  a  house  of  mourning  He  Himself 
said:  “I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life:  he 
that  believeth  on  me,  though  he  die,  yet  shall 
he  live.” 

Christmas,  Good  Friday,  Easter.  The  In¬ 
carnation,  The  Atonement,  The  Resurrection. 
The  last  of  these  is  greatest  in  the  sense  that 
once  the  message  of  Easter  obtains,  the  others 
follow.  And  more,  for  Easter  is  not  the  last 


Resurrection  and  Power  of  God  89 

of  this  series.  Resurrection  is  followed  by 
Ascension,  Intercession,  Procession  (the  gift 
of  the  Holy  Spirit),  Revelation,  Manifestation, 
Restoration  of  all  things. 

Nor  is  Christmas  the  first  in  this  indissoluble 
order.  Jesus  Christ  had  a  past.  God  promised 
the  Good  News  afore  through  His  prophets  in 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  concerning  His  Son,  who 
was  born  of  the  seed  of  David,  according  to 
the  flesh,  who  was  demonstrated  to  be  the  Son 
of  God  in  power  according  to  the  spirit  of 
holiness  by  the  resurrection  from  the  dead 
(Romans,  first  chapter). 

We  must  go  even  further  back,  for  this  Son, 
who  was  promised  by  prophets,  is  He  in  whom 
were  created  all  things  in  the  heavens  and  upon 
the  earth.  He  was  in  the  beginning  with  God, 
and  being  the  whole  beaming  image  of  God's 
glory,  and  the  very  expression  of  God's  sub¬ 
stance,  He  was  God.  He  is  the  Alpha  and  the 
Omega  with  all  the  letters  between.  He  is  the 
first  and  the  last,  only  begotten  Son  of  God,  and 
Ultimate  Man. 

The  Resurrection  Chapter  of  the  Bible  is 
First  Corinthians,  fifteenth.  From  the  begin¬ 
ning,  middle  and  end  of  it  the  words  below  are 


90  The  Resurrection  Body 

selected  as  fittingly  concluding  this  Easter  mes¬ 
sage. 

“For  I  delivered  unto  you  first  of  all  that 
which  also  I  received :  that  Christ  died  for  our 
sins  according  to  the  scriptures;  and  that  he 
was  buried;  and  that  he  hath  been  raised  on 
the  third  day  according  to  the  scriptures.  .  .  , 
But  now  hath  Christ  been  raised  from  the 
dead.  .  .  .  For  he  must  reign  till  he  hath  put 
all  his  enemies  under  his  feet.  The  last  enemy 
that  shall  be  abolished  is  death.  .  .  .  Where¬ 
fore,  my  beloved  brethren,  be  ye  steadfast, 
unmovable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of 
the  Lord,  forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  your 
labour  is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord.” 


THE  END 


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